Corby MP Tom Pursglove warns of 'worrying Covid trend' in town

An MP has warned about "worrying trends" in a town where the number of coronavirus cases increased by a quarter within a week.

Corby had a 25% week-on-week rise in cases to 934.7 per 100,000 people in the week to 9 January.

The town's MP Tom Pursglove said there were concerns "around employment sites" and whether they were playing a "disproportionate role".

Conservative Mr Pursglove called the increase in cases "very concerning".

The MP claimed the government was set to send a task force in to Corby.

The town has the highest rate of cases in Northamptonshire and the 45th-highest in England.

Three weeks ago, in the week to 26 December, the rate was 204.9 cases per 100,000 people, while six weeks ago, in the week to 12 December, it was 109.4 cases per 100,000 people.

Mr Pursglove said the town had seen "some quite worrying trends emerge".

He said investigations needed to focus on "what is happening around manufacturing sites in Corby to understand what more needs to be done in terms of national policy in the current climate".

Mr Pursglove compared the situation to a Covid-19 outbreak at Northampton sandwich manufacturer Greencore in August, when the town was added to a government watchlist and the factory closed.

"National policy was then improved in light of that experience to better support affected businesses financially and with practical help to operate more safely if carrying out 'essential' work," he said.

"It is very important to get to the bottom of whether there is a correlation between these higher rates of infection and some of those employment sites operating in the town."

However, he added community transmission continued "to be the main issue in Corby".

Mr Pursglove said he had discussed the situation with the Labour leader of Corby Borough Council Tom Beattie, Public Health Northamptonshire and government officials.

Mr Beattie wrote to Prime Minister Boris Johnson on 8 January to raise concerns about the "disproportionate number of our residents being required to continue to go to work" due to the high amount of manufacturing and distribution in Corby.

He said: "I'm not suggesting anyone is not operating within the law. I think it is the regulations themselves.

"I don't think they are strong enough."

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