The new lockdown measures had to be imposed in the Northeast quickly to avoid the “last-party atmosphere” this weekend.
new Restrictions that prohibit people From different families gathered and imposed a curfew on the bars on Friday.
But a lot of people left Frustrated and confused Incidentally, it was announced, with details gradually confirmed on Thursday – just hours before the rules go into effect.
Professor Eugene Milne, Newcastle City Council The director of public health said the rapid rate at which infection numbers rose across parts of the region meant it might have been “imperative” to take swift action.
He said, “In an ideal world, we would have settled everything up front and have real clarity about what was going to happen so that we could release all of our communications immediately.
“We are definitely in the hands of the central government and because we were defending different elements and did not get everything we asked for, although there were concessions on both sides about it, the speed with which it should have happened made things difficult.
This may be an inevitable result of the rapid spread of the Corona virus in the city and the surrounding area, which we had to deal with very quickly.
“I know it’s very difficult for people, but I would ask them to take it with us because we’re really trying as much as possible to get as much consistency as possible out of a very complicated situation.”
New restrictions announced Friday in parts of the Midlands, Northwest and Yorkshire did not go into effect until Tuesday – giving people more time to understand the changes and make plans.
But fears of a wild weekend meant that the Northeast Council wanted restrictions here as soon as possible.
The spread of the virus here has been linked in part to greater social mixing in or around pubs, bars and other places.
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Professor Milne added: “The alternative was for the instructions to come on Monday, which would not have given us a lot of time to do contacts and so on because the decision was likely to be taken on Friday morning.
“There is a real risk that you end up with a ‘last party’ atmosphere over the weekend which could be really problematic in terms of exacerbating the spread of the virus further and making the total period in which we have to take measures longer.
“The judgment was that if we were to do this, it would be better to do so as quickly as possible.”
Under new regulations that went into effect on Friday, nearly two million people in Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham are banned from communicating with other people outside their homes or supporting bubbles in private homes and gardens.
Hospitality places are also limited to table service only and have a 10pm curfew.
Residents have also been advised not to mix with people outside of their homes in all public places, to use public transportation for essential excursions only, to spend vacations only within your family or support bubble, and to avoid sporting events as spectators.
