Covid: New West Yorkshire restrictions a 'tough sacrifice'

Parts of West Yorkshire were only exempted from local restrictions at the the end of August

Living under further local lockdown restrictions is an "incredibly tough sacrifice" for people to make, according to one council leader.

People living in Bradford, Kirklees and Calderdale will not be able to socialise with others at home or in private gardens from the 22 September.

Parts of the area had been exempted from that restriction at the end of August, but it will be re-imposed.

Kirklees Council's leader said he would ask the government to reconsider.

Shabir Pandor said: "I know how difficult this news will be to hear. It's an incredibly tough sacrifice to have to make.

"We're also concerned that frequent changes in restrictions could have a serious impact on the effectiveness of them, but also people's mental health."

He said the authority would be asking the government for the most recent restrictions to be reconsidered.

However, the Conservative MP for Calder Valley said he supported the decision to re-impose restrictions.

Craig Whittaker said: "This is regrettable after such great progress but necessary to protect us all."

The Labour MP for Halifax, Holly Lynch said she was unhappy about the way the government made the decision on local restrictions.

"It's a shambles every week that serious information about local restrictions is 'drip fed' to the public," she tweeted.

What you cannot do in the areas under local restrictions

The restrictions will apply irrespective of where you live in Kirklees, Calderdale and Bradford

• Meet people you do not live with inside a private home or garden, except where you have formed a support bubble.

• Visit someone else's home or garden even if they live outside Bradford, Kirklees or Calderdale

• You are strongly advised not to socialise with people you do not live with in other indoor public venues - such as pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues, or visitor attractions

• Socialise outdoors in a group of no more than six people from different households

• Visit friends or family in care homes, other than in exceptional circumstances. Care homes should restrict visits to these circumstances.

Source: Calderdale Council, Kirklees Council, Bradford Council

The announcement prompted a strong reaction on social media with many users questioning why the restrictions were being applied across the whole area.

Emma Land, who lives in Kirklees, tweeted the situation was an "absolute joke." She said she lived an hour away from the worst-affected areas in the district.

"Gov is happy for me to travel to Leeds for work though! Disgraceful," she added.

Another user, KayRay echoed her points tweeting: "I live in rural Kirklees which is not part of the problem in Kirklees. The bad areas are Batley and Dewsbury etc etc. But we get lumped in."

Some people have expressed disbelief that Leeds has not had a local lockdown imposed given the high number of cases in the city.

Outofplacetom tweeted: "Also Leeds 68 cases per 100,000 and Calderdale 43 and Calderdale is going into local lockdown and Leeds isn't?"

The leader of Leeds City Council Judith Blake said the city remained in enhanced support and would be reconsidered for stricter rules next week.

Analysis

Daniel Wainwright, BBC England Data Unit

Coronavirus cases in Bradford have surged since the start of the month, up from 65 per 100,000 residents in a week to nearly 97 per 100,000 in the week to 15 September, according to data released on Friday afternoon.

While Calderdale's rate fell to 45 per 100,000 over the previous week, it has still nearly doubled since the last week of August.

Kirklees too, more than 69 per 100,000 in the week to 15 September, has increased from 31 per 100,000 in the last week of August.

Last week theDewsbury Moor Lower and Westtown area of Kirklees and the Woodhouse and Little London area of Leeds recorded West Yorkshire's highest numbers of new cases, with 24 each.

In Calderdale the council leader asked people "not to give up hope."

Tim Swift said he understood people's frustration, but coronavirus cases were rising.

"This is not the news we would have wished for, and we know this is difficult to hear for many people, but we do understand that the safety of our community must always come first."

Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, said the council supported the decision to reinstate local restrictions in the city's nine wards that had previously been exempted.

"In the last few weeks it's been noticeable that, as the infection rate has risen, it has also increased markedly in some of those wards which had previously come out of local restriction."

She said the virus did not respect ward boundaries.

Follow BBC Yorkshire on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [e-mail] or send video here.