Oxfordshire Tier 2 plan 'blocked by government'

Case started rising faster in Oxford among younger people before spreading to older members of the population

Plans for Oxfordshire to be placed under Tier 2 Covid-19 restrictions have been blocked, council leaders say.

Council leaders were "pushing" for the county to be moved to "high risk" status but no change was made following talks with the government.

Ansaf Azhar, director of public health, warned the county could find itself in a similar position to Liverpool and Manchester if action is not taken.

The government said it would "constantly review the evidence".

The Department of Health and Social Care said the decisions were made in "close consultation" with local leaders and public health experts.

But Mr Azhar said that based on the "current trajectory of the virus" the county "could well find ourselves in a similar position" to the worst-affected areas "in just a few weeks' time if we do not take collective action now".

'Ignored considered view'

He said data showed a "significant shift" in the virus spreading from younger people to vulnerable age groups and added deaths would "inevitably follow" the spike in hospital cases.

Confirmed coronavirus cases increased among young people in Oxford in recent weeks but have started to spread to older age groups in other areas of Oxfordshire.

The city's universities reported large outbreaks, with Oxford University confirming its number of cases had tripled in the space of a week.

Figures published on Wednesday show a total of 591 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Oxfordshire, with the rate at 85.4 per 100,000 population.

Susan Brown, Labour leader of Oxford City Council, said she was "disappointed" the decision had been made "to ignore the considered view" of Mr Azhar and the county's six councils.

Conservative county council leader Ian Hudspeth said the "majority of transmissions" occurred when different households mixed, so increasing the alert level would be "one of the best ways we can help our residents".

Meanwhile Oxford's MPs, Lib-Dem Layla Moran and Labour Anneliese Dodds, urged the government to follow Mr Azhar's guidance.

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But the county's four Conservative MPs, Robert Courts, John Howell, David Johnston and Victoria Prentis said they could "see the case for potentially putting Oxford city into Tier 2" and added they "felt there was insufficient evidence to make the case for the whole county" at this stage.

"We would be concerned about the prospect of individuals and businesses in wider Oxfordshire being placed under Tier 2 restrictions on the basis of a problem that appears centred on the student population in Oxford city," they said in a joint statement.

It is expected the situation will be reviewed over the next week.