Questions raised about no Exeter lockdown
For the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, the number of new cases being confirmed in Exeter has risen above the national average.
Concerns had been raised as student moved to Exeter - resulting in halls of residence and off campus households having to self isolate.
There have been 78 cases confirmed in Exeter in the last seven days – a rate of 59.4 per 100,000 people.
The average for England is 55.4 per 100,000, but despite this, any lockdown measures, other than students at the University of Exeter currently being advised to not mix with any other household indoors for the next two weeks have not, and are unlikely to be imposed yet.
Why is there no lockdown in Exeter?
Asked whether there were any discussions around a ‘local lockdown’ for Exeter, a Devon County Council spokesman said: “A decision of a magnitude of a city-wide lockdown would be made at a national level. At the moment, case numbers are not there.”
Areas of concern do not get local lockdown rules immediately but are flagged on the watchlist to ensure they get extra testing capacity and are more closely monitored.
Areas for enhanced support are those at a medium-high risk of intervention where there is a more detailed plan, agreed with the national authorities, while areas of intervention see ‘local lockdown’ rules imposed.
Despite case rates in Exeter being higher than some areas of the country on the the government’s coronavirus watchlist, the city was not added when the changes were made late on Thursday.
Are university students to blame for the rise in cases?
This is because despite the incidence being higher than some areas on the watchlist, the cases have mainly been confined to University students with no evidence yet of onward community transmission, and some of the areas on the list are geographically surrounded by areas where the incidence is much higher, which isn’t the case in Devon.
Steve Brown, the Deputy Director of Public Health Devon, has thanked University students for responding to the new additional measures to curb the coronavirus infection and said it is essential that everyone in the city’s community continues to follow the rules to help prevent the spread of the virus.
Simon Jupp, MP for East Devon, whose constituency covers part of Exeter, said; “I’m confident the steps taken to contain cases of the virus connected to the University will help stop the spread and protect our city. We’ve kept the virus at bay locally and worked hard to follow the rules. None of us want these restrictions. We must all keep up the great work in Devon to keep cases low so we never need the restrictions other parts of the country are now facing.”
And while the number of new cases in Exeter has risen, across the whole the county, the case rate is less than a third of the England average.
In total, 134 cases in the previous seven days have been confirmed in Devon, at a rate of 16.7 per 100,000, with figures for Torbay at 21.3 per 100,000, Plymouth 13.6 per 100,000, and Cornwall 24 per 100,000.
It can also be confirmed that the number of tests being carried out in Devon has increased.
For the latest available week, the week ending September 25, there were 10,900 pillar 2 tests carried out in the county, an increase on the previous week which reported 7,600 tests.