Calderdale Council leader gives reaction to West Yorkshire's 'unwelcome' move to Tier 3

Tim Swift: “We know this is upsetting news for everyone, particularly those who haven’t seen loved ones for many months."

Calderdale Council Leader Tim Swift
Author: John GreenwoodPublished 30th Oct 2020

The leader of Calderdale Council has said the borough has been put into the “very high” Tier 3 COVID-19 restrictions along with other West Yorkshire authorities because positive cases are rising too quickly.

When the restrictions, which will impose limitations on mixing with other households and has implications for some businesses, were announced, Coun Tim Swift told councillors taking part in a review of the impact the pandemic has had on health and social care services that the situation left little option.

“In light of rising and worrying case numbers it would not have been responsible to do otherwise,” he told members of the council’s Adults, Health and Social Care Board.

Calderdale will move into the new tier as of one minute past midnight on the morning of Monday, November 2, said Coun Swift (Lab, Town).

“Following today’s Government’s announcement, unfortunately, along with other West Yorkshire authorities, Calderdale has been moved into Tier 3 of restrictions, meaning the local COVID alert level is very high in our area.

“As a result, there will be additional restrictions on people and businesses across the borough.

“We know this is upsetting news for everyone, particularly those who haven’t seen loved ones for many months; and for businesses, especially those in the hospitality sector which has already been severely affected by COVID restrictions this year.

“As the weather changes, so do people’s habits, but unfortunately the change in seasons have had a dramatic effect on the number of COVID cases in Calderdale – our rate is currently 20 times that seen at the end of August,” he said.

Coun Swift said hospital admissions are increasing as well, so it was vital action was taken to protect NHS services and support health service staff.

“We know that moving into Tier 3 is an unwelcome step in what has been an unrelenting period of upset, but it’s important to remember that the sooner we bring the virus under control, the sooner we can move out of restrictions,” he said.

Coun Swift re-emphasised people could lend their help by following guidelines on social distancing, hand washing and mask wearing.

“As a council we’ll continue to do all we can to prevent and control COVID.

“Our local contact tracing service currently has the highest success rate in the North East and Yorkshire region.

“The continued success of this service is so important in breaking the chain of infection and is a key part of our response to save lives and reduce transmission of the virus.

“We’ll also continue to push for enhanced financial packages from Government to support residents and businesses who are struggling as a results of enhanced measures,” he said.

Liberal Democrat group leader Coun James Baker (Warley) has commented: “Hospitalisation rates show we need to take further action but we need to be told what the exit strategy is for coming back out of Tier 3.”