Coronavirus: Luton gyms and leisure centres may reopen

Leisure facilities in Luton are able to reopen after "significant progress" was made in controlling coronavirus, the government has said.

Last week, Public Health England (PHE) data showed the Bedfordshire town had been marked as an "area for intervention", along with Blackburn with Darwen, after a spike in cases.

The council said it expected indoor gyms and pools to reopen from 3 August.

Health bosses said it showed the town was "doing the right things".

Last week, people in Luton were urged to take a coronavirus test - whether or not they had symptoms - amid a a rise in cases in the town.

It was also announced that gyms and leisure centres would not reopen, at a time when some lockdown measures were being loosened elsewhere.

Centres in the rest of England reopened on 25 July and from 1 August, the town "will be brought in line with the rest of the country after significant progress has been made in controlling the virus", the Department of Health said. Blackburn's leisure centres will remain closed.

In Luton, which has a population of 214,000, there were 41 recorded cases of Covid-19 in the week up to 26 July, down from 61 during the week before. This means the rate per 100,000 of the population dropped from 28.5 to 19.1.

For context, the number of recorded cases in Blackburn with Darwen rose from 121 to 136 in the same period and was the highest rate in England.

Following the announcement that new restrictions had been imposed on residents in some areas of northern England, health secretary Matt Hancock told the BBC: "There are other areas, like for instance Luton, that was an area of concern last week and they have managed to bring the rates of transmission and the number of new cases right down and so they've come off that list."

Luton Borough Council said it would continue to roll out mass testing and director of public health, Gerry Taylor, advised residents to continue to follow local guidance.

"This announcement from the government gives assurance that we are doing the right things to control the virus locally," she said.

"However, we must remain cautious and will be keeping additional local guidance in place until we receive the results from the increased testing this week so we can assess the full impact and level of community transmission."

She said this guidance would be reviewed on a weekly basis.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]