Leader's disappointment as Corby tops county's weekly Covid rate chart

The leader of Corby Council has said the Covid situation in the borough isn't getting better as quickly as he would want.

Corby has remained on the Government's 'areas of concern' watchlist for the third week running today, with its weekly case rate of 50.8 per 100,000 people well above the England average of 33.8.

That comes despite a recent decrease in the number of cases week-on-week, with 30 confirmed for the week up to September 13.

Its weekly rate is currently the highest in Northamptonshire, with Northampton's sitting at 42.6 per 100,000 people.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Cllr Tom Beattie said: "It's disappointing to see Corby has the highest rate in the county, even though there is a recent slight decrease.

"Things are not getting any worse, but they are not getting better as quickly as we would want."

Corby's rate is currently higher than 11 areas where the Government has intervened and banned households from mixing - but such a restriction has not been brought into force in Corby.

Cllr Beattie has previously spoken of how damaging a local lockdown would be - and today reiterated his fears of the impact it could have on Corby.

He said: "We do not want to get to the position where we even have to consider a local lockdown...it would be damaging for the local economy and local businesses and it would be damaging for morale among the public."

Figures released today by Northamptonshire County Council revealed one area of Corby has the highest number of cases in the county by community in the past 28 days.

Corby Village and Weldon has 37 positive cases, five more than the second-highest ward (Burton Latimer, Broughton and Mawsley) with 32.

At the press conference today Kettering Council leader Cllr Russell Roberts said he was pleased they remain off the Government watchlist having been taken off it last Friday. It remains a local area of concern.

With some areas of the UK currently facing curfews on pubs and bars, Cllr Roberts said he hoped it would not affect Northamptonshire.

He said: "It would be incredibly difficult if the night-time economy was affected by this.

"It would not be good. But if people keep being vigilant, hopefully it won't affect the night-time economy."

Leader of Northampton Borough Council, Cllr Jonathan Nunn, said there is still an enormous amount of work to do and that they need to keep the town centre open.

At the press conference today the assistant chief constable at Northamptonshire Police, James Andronov, said they had issued zero penalties the rule of six law came in Monday.

And the meeting heard that all 326 of Northamptonshire's schools have re-opened since the new academic year started, with 95 per cent fully re-opening.

Rhosyn Harris, consultant in public health at Northamptonshire County Council, said: "We continue to urge residents to follow the new national guidance around the ‘rule of six’ and continue to follow specific guidance around regular hand washing, wearing of face coverings and social distancing.

“Those with coronavirus symptoms (high temperature, continuous cough or loss of/change in sense of smell or taste), should book a test. New booking slots are available each evening for the next day and more are released each morning. Pre-booking is essential.

“Despite short term challenges in national laboratory processing capacity, we have one of the highest reporting levels nationally and we are increasing the availability of testing across the county. Testing remains a key factor in enabling us to identify where there are more cases of the coronavirus in our county. This enables us to take early actions, and to provide additional guidance to residents in order to prevent a lockdown.

Residents in Northampton, Corby and Kettering are asked to continue to follow local guidance to protect the local community and reduce transmission rates.

The guidance is as follows:

• Keep 2 metres from others at all times

• Limit contact with anyone outside of your household or bubble

• If you must meet those outside of your household or bubble, meet in an outdoor space

• Do not share items with others outside of your household or bubble

• If social distancing at 2 metres is not possible, always use a face covering

• Avoid using public transport or car sharing - wear face coverings if you must travel with others

• Wash your hands regularly and thoroughly for 20 seconds each time

• Work from home if you can

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