Coronavirus: Bedford mayor says easing lockdown 'premature'

The elected mayor of a town with a high rate of Covid-19 infection has called on residents to "stay home", calling the easing of lockdown "premature".

Latest figures show Bedford and Peterborough have the highest rates of infection in the east of England for the week of 1-7 June.

Bedford mayor Dave Hodgson said the government was not providing the data for a decision on localised lockdowns.

The government said it had been taking "the right steps" to combat Covid-19.

The Public Health England figures show in that week there were 31-45 cases per 100,000 of the population in Bedford and Peterborough, putting them among the highest local authority areas in the country.

In Cambridgeshire and Suffolk there were 11-15 cases per 100,000, six to 10 cases in Norfolk and Essex and 16-30 cases in Luton.

Mr Hodgson, who was elected Lib Dem mayor of Bedford Borough Council in 2009, said: "The government has begun to ease lockdown. In my opinion it is premature for our area.

"It would appear from data that Bedford borough has a high number of coronavirus cases.

"It's unclear from the data why this is and it doesn't help that the data from Public Health England is not provided in a timely manner."

He said he was seeking information from the government on whether the higher rate of infection was linked to a part of Bedford so measures could be brought in to deal with it.

He added: "I'd urge residents to stick to the original government advice and stay home and stay safe."

Muriel Scott, the council's director of public health, said: "With lockdown easing you might think that the virus has gone away. It hasn't.

"We are working with partners in the health sector to support the local rollout of test and trace and are calling on residents to continue the fight to slow the spread of the virus."

A government spokesman said: "This is an unprecedented global pandemic and we have taken the right steps at the right time to combat it.

"At every stage, the government has been informed by the advice of experts from SAGE and its sub-committees."

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