Covid: Surge tests in Kirklees after 'chaotic' Covid advice

Surge testing for Covid will begin in parts of Kirklees on Wednesday, amid criticism of "chaotic and confusing" government travel guidance.

The advice for areas hardest hit by the Indian variant was published online on Friday without an announcement, with local leaders not formally notified.

West Yorkshire mayor Tracy Brabin called the decision to update the guidance without fanfare as "shocking".

The government said it intended to take a national approach to lifting rules.

Speaking in Dewsbury, Ms Brabin said: "The community of Kirklees has absolutely suffered [over] this last year. We've been in some version of restrictions for over a year.

"Businesses have gone bust, people have lost loved ones, they've not been able to see the people they care about - and now a Friday teatime announcement that can change people's lives.

"It just feels so disrespectful."

Door-to-door testing is going to take place in Savile Town and Thornhill Lees, with people aged over 11 being invited to take PCR tests, Kirklees Council said.

All adults in those areas are being offered the chance to be vaccinated if they have not already received a first dose, it added.

Jonathan Hughes, 58, lives in Gomersal and planned to go to Edinburgh on 1 June to visit his son, but said the trip is now "unlikely" after the latest advice.

Mr Hughes, who has terminal cancer, said: "There is a large point of me that would like to go 'to hell with what the rules are' but I've spent my life caring what the rules are so it's difficult for me to go all cavalier about it and not care about it now.

"A year ago, my oncologist advised that I plan for 'quality of life - not quantity'. The government's lack of clarity means that I'm increasingly unlikely to see much of either."

Jo Richmond, general manager of the Old Bridge Inn in Holmfirth, said: "I don't think this has been communicated very well at all - I only found out about it because it came up on the news on my phone this morning.

"We've just had a brilliant opening week and it's a major worry that bookings could now be affected with people travelling into the area to stay at the hotel."

She said it seemed unfair that Holmfirth, which had a small number of Covid cases, was treated the same as larger towns like Dewsbury and Huddersfield because they were all within the Kirklees district.

Rakiya Maqsoon, 45, who commutes with her husband from Bradford to Dewsbury to run a market stall, said: "If we're not meant to be commuting in and out, we've not been made aware of it.

"If it's not in law, what does it actually mean - how does it affect us? We'll still wear masks, keep hands clean and keep a social distance, but we'll still be commuting in.

"You've got to continue at some point to live a normal life," she added.

Muhammad Muhammad, from Dewsbury, 55, said: "Not everyone knows how to use the government website, a lot of my friends don't because we're old-school, we still use old mobile phones.

"It is concerning, everyone's getting ready for a grand reopening but I don't think there's going to be normality, is there, how things are going."

Analysis by Rob England, BBC England Data Unit

Cases in Kirklees have increased by 45% in the last seven days, compared with the previous week.

In the most recent data, the area had the fourth highest rate of infection in England, standing at just below 100 weekly cases per 100,000.

This isn't as extreme as some other parts of the country, such as Bolton, but the number of new cases being recorded do not show signs of slowing.

The majority of these cases seem to be in the younger age groups and to the north, such as Dewsbury Savile Town and Thornhill Lees, but not exclusively and there are hotspots appearing in the south in places like Honley and Brockholes.

Thought by the government to be one of the areas where the variant B.1.617.2 is "spreading fastest", according to the most recent data released, three of the 12 cases examined in Kirklees were identified as being from this variant, first identified in India.

However, this only covers up to the 15 May, so it is possible more cases have been identified since.

Advice against travelling to Bolton in Greater Manchester and nearby Blackburn with Darwen, other than for essential reasons, and for people there to meet outside where possible, was issued on 14 May.

It was updated to include six more areas - Kirklees, Bedford, Burnley, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside - on Friday.

The prime minister's official spokesman said the government wanted to encourage the public "to exercise their good judgement", rather than issuing "top-down edicts".

Kirklees Council leader Mr Pandor said he hoped it had been "an error" as the district's hospital rates and death rates were low.

"We are doing whatever we can to respond to the pandemic but the responsibility overall is the government's, he said.

"We will step up and do our part but we can't do it when there's no trust or no confidence in how they communicate with us. It's not on."

Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said she was "surprised" to hear local leaders declare they had not been told about the fresh guidance.

"We have been working in close contact, so I'm surprised to hear people think this has come out of the blue - it hasn't," she told Sky News.

"It is about formalising on the record the guidance we believe people can and should follow in order to make sure we tackle and don't have more spread of the Indian variant."

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