Covid-19: Travel guidance for Bedford creates confusion

New government travel guidance published on Friday appeared to suggest that people should not travel in and out of Bedford and seven other districts. It was later clarified but led to widespread confusion. What was the reaction from people in Bedford?

"Minimise travel in and out of affected areas".

That was the advice that appeared on the government's Covid-19 website, covering eight districts in England that had seen rises in infection rates, including Bedford.

Local politicians in the borough said they had not been given prior warning. The government later insisted it was guidance, rather than a new law.

It led to confusion for people living and working in Bedford, and some local politicians called it a "local lockdown".

Bedford's mayor and council leader, Dave Hodgson, had been critical of the government saying he was only informed of the "updated advice by the media".

But on Tuesday afternoon, Bedford Borough Council issued a statement which said: "Following the national coverage of recently-revised guidance we have met with national officials and confirmed there are no restrictions on travel in or out of Bedford Borough: There are no local lockdowns."

The BBC's Katherine Da Costa, reporting on the BBC's live page, said it had been a "big breakdown in communication".

In a statement, Bedford Borough Council added: "In areas where the new Covid variant is spreading we are all working together to boost testing and vaccination and to support self-isolation.

"There are sensible public health precautions people can take as individuals in line with the sorts of advice we have all been following throughout the pandemic.

"We will keep sharing that and working with national officials to make sure people understand what they need to think about as they go about their daily lives."

Speaking before the council clarified the position, Labour councillor and portfolio holder for public health, Louise Jackson, summed up the confusion.

"There's very little guidance. We don't know what this means for us, for our schools, for our hospitality industry," she said.

"It causes a great deal of confusion. People may have had plans for this weekend and they may be having to rethink.

"We're continuing with our surge testing programme.

"Local lockdowns don't work. This is in effect a local lockdown by stealth."

She added that had the government shared bio-security information about returning travellers then "we could have done an awful lot more".

"It's far too late telling people not to move out of the area. They've already been doing so in the past week and before that," she said.

Pubs planning to take advantage of the forthcoming bank holiday and recoup some of their lockdown losses were unsure what to do.

One landlord, who did not want to be named, said he had £5,000 worth of stock coming in and had no idea whether to cancel it.

Another publican, Sean O'Donnell, who runs the King's Arms in Bedford, said: "Once again we're very nervous because we have got stock in, we've got food in.

"Do I order for the bank holiday? Are we going to get closed down again? Everybody's livelihoods are threatened once again."

He said the majority of people would follow any government guidance.

"But if you haven't got proper instruction, what do we tell the customer? Everybody is left in limbo," he said.

Charlie Fay runs a town centre coffee shop and had welcomed getting back to "normal". She first heard of the new rules from her customers.

"As a business I just want to be doing the right thing. And at the moment I'm not really sure what that is," she said.

She said the "confusion isn't really helpful" with some customers not sure if they were allowed to sit inside the cafe.

"We have a moral obligation to be doing the right thing, we just need some clearly defined guidelines, we need them as soon as possible," she said.

Close by is Frescoes, another coffee shop. Owner, Xanthe Jackson was "really disappointed" with the guidance that people should avoid non-essential trips.

"It's going to be very tricky now, people aren't going to come in and feel comfortable," she said.

"I've just taken the business on and it's going to be a lot of pressure on me really.

"I can understand it, but most people have now been vaccinated and the whole point of lockdowns... was to stop the hospital admissions, and that's not happening [increasing] now.

"We'll do the best we can... it is tricky for businesses to keep having their goalposts moved."

Colin, who did not wish to give his surname, runs CDK seafood and grocery. He said he had not been told about the new restrictions.

"This is new news to me. For us not to be aware - it's like it's a secret," he said.

He is classed as an essential shop. Nevertheless he believed trade would be affected.

"If everybody is indoors, my business goes down. So people being out helps me," he said.

Valerie, one of his customers, said: "We've lost so many people already. They [the government] are being proactive but they need to tell people exactly what's going on."

Ahead of the clarifying statement from the council, Bedford's Labour MP Mohammad Yasin was highly critical of the new rules saying the government "had sneaked Bedford Borough into a local lockdown".

Mr Yasin, who recently petitioned the government for more vaccines for the town, said: "Whilst the late arrival of surge testing and extra vaccines is of course welcome, it is clear that the government must deliver a true surge vaccination program and be clear with the public about what they are trying to achieve."

A Downing Street source had denied bringing local lockdowns in by stealth.

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said the advice is "just about sensible extra caution and [trying] to get a grip locally with tackling the spread".

The guidance advises people in Indian variant hotspots to:

A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We will be updating the guidance for areas where the new Covid-19 variant is spreading to make it clearer we are not imposing local restrictions.

"Instead, we are providing advice on the additional precautions people can take to protect themselves and others in those areas where the new variant is prevalent.

"This includes, wherever possible, trying to meet outdoors rather than indoors, keeping 2m apart from anyone you don't live with and minimising travel in and out the area.

"These are not new regulations but they are some of the ways everyone can help bring the variant under control in their local area."

Other districts affected by the confusion included North Tyneside.

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