Lincolnshire should take “whatever steps necessary” to tackle coronavirus — including putting the county into tier 4 lockdown after Christmas, according to a local health boss.
Assistant director of public health Tony McGinty said he expected a new variant of COVID-19, which is thought to be more infectious than its predecessor, will “become the dominant virus”.
Lincolnshire has yet to officially report instances of the new strain, but Mr McGinty said: “Given how common it is becoming, it’s unlikely it hasn’t arrived in the county.”
Although the new strain is not thought to be more deadly, he added that the speed at which it was spreading would put more pressure on already strained health and other critical services if it pushed infection rates even higher.
The Prime Minister on Saturday put much of the South and East of the country into a new, tougher tier 4 lockdown, and although Lincolnshire escaped and stayed in tier 3, Mr McGinty said it’s a “numbers game” over when the county will be placed into tier 4.
“We have to take additional steps to control that,” he said.
“Even though it doesn’t look like this new variant virus makes people more ill, just the pure numbers game means that if there’s hundreds or thousands more people getting it, then a proportion of those […] is going to push a lot more people into needing health care.
“On top of that a lot more people will have to isolate, and therefore not be able to work and keep services running, so it’s going to be really important to do what we can to slow down that new variant.”
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rate from Dec 14 to Dec 21. | Data: GOV UK / Table: The Lincolnite
The Lincolnshire infection rate is currently 222.8 per 100,000 people, compared to a UK average of 284.6.
With the UK numbers rising rapidly overall due to the new virus strain, it has pushed the county below the national average for a while.
Even Boston and Lincoln (once top of the table) have decreased, however, they still sit above the UK average at 369 and 343 respectively.
“I suspect now we will see the new variant virus become the dominant virus everywhere in the country, including in Lincolnshire, and therefore we will see a period of time where that variant starts to spread more quickly than we’ve been used to the current area.
“I suspect we’re going to be being asked by government to take more and stricter precautions, as we go into the second half of winter.”
Mr McGinty continued to push advice to start precautions now ahead of the Christmas Day relaxation of rules, including self-isolating if possible.
This was particularly important for anyone who may have travelled early from London following the tier 4 announcement. If someone has travelled and shows symptoms, they should get a test as soon as possible.
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Marc Jones, the re-elected Conservative Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner, said that his work is not done, as he’s looking forward to a further three years in the role.
Mr Jones won with a 57.9% majority of the poll from the first round of counting, with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout. A total of 177,528 votes were placed county-wide.
The nearest candidate was Labour’s Rosanne Kirk, with a 19% share of the votes, with Lincolnshire Independent David Williams securing the third spot with 10%.
The breakdown of the votes cast on Thursday, May 6, and counted on Saturday, may 8, was:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Marc Jones: “More work to do”
“It’s very gratifying to have concluded today on the first count, that was a really positive thing for what I’ve delivered so far,” said Mr Jones.
“But I’m under no illusions having spoken to many around the county there’s an awful lot more work to do.”
He said he wanted to assure the public that “nothing was taken for granted”.
Rosie Kirk – Labour – 2nd place
Labour’s candidate Rosie Kirk said she was “thrilled for her party” across all three elections that had taken place in Lincolnshire this week.
“The votes that we got was incredible. Our message got through and to actually come second in a Conservative county is really great,” she said.
However, she added that there were “lots of questions that still need to be asked” and promised to keep up her scrutiny of Marc in his role.
Ross Pepper – Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrat candidate Ross Pepper said the result was not “entirely unexpected”.
However, he said he was proud of the three Liberal Democrat councillors that had won seats in the local elections at Lincolnshire County and City of Lincoln Councils.
“I’m ready to work with them for a better Lincolnshire and a better Lincoln,” he said.
“In a Conservative heavy county we did a really good job of getting the Liberal Democrat message out there… and we continue pushing that message through local campaigning in the future.”
David Williams – Lincolnshire Independents
David Williams, the Lincolnshire Independents PCC candidate congratulated Marc Jones on his victory but said it is “not a surprising outcome”.
“I’m really pleased to have run for the post, because if I hadn’t have had a go to do a job that I really would have relished then I would have looked back and regretted not having taking the opportunity.”
Peter Escreet – Reform UK
Peter Escreet, the Reform UK candidate also said the result “was as expected” but actually he was “pleasantly surprised,” saying that this is “just the start”.
“The real campaign is in three years’ time” where Mr Escreet wants to grow a majority.
Conservative Marc Jones has been re-elected to the Lincolnshire Police and Crime Commissioner role.
He won from the first round of counting with 102,813 votes from a 31% turnout.
The PCC oversees the strategy and finances of the force, and also hires and fires chief constables, who are responsible for the daily policing operations.
Mr Jones will be in the position for three years.
The breakdown of the results is:
Marc Jones (Conservative) – 102,813
Rosanne Kirk (Labour) – 34,310
Ross Pepper (Liberal Democrats) – 10,172
David Williams (Lincolnshire Independent) – 18,375
Peter Escreet (Reform UK) – 6,101
Here’s the live result announcement, the reactions and acceptance speech:
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