Like many of you, I did not want to see another lockdown. I know the toll the first lockdown has had on people’s mental health, other health conditions and on local businesses. I have therefore been supportive of the Government’s Tiers approach and the other measures Government has been taking to try and avoid this.
It is however clear that the data the Government is receiving suggests that we could face a second wave of Covid hospitalisations and deaths that is higher than what we saw in the Spring if we do not take significant action now and I therefore feel the Government has little choice but to impose another lockdown for the coming 4 weeks.
I realise that case numbers, hospitalisations and deaths remain low in a number of areas of the county and even lower in other areas of the country. I was pleased that the county of Oxfordshire, barring Oxford City, had remained in Tier 1 on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer and Joint Biosecurity Centre – this will hopefully remain the case when we exit the lockdown on 2 December so that individuals, families and businesses are in a better place to emerge from it than they would have been had we been placed in Tier 2 or Tier 3, as some have called for.
The second lockdown will nonetheless have a number of negative impacts, despite the significant economic support the Government is putting in place again. If I can help you, your family or your employer with any aspect of this then as ever do please email me on [email protected]
Some details are still being finalised ahead of the vote in parliament on Wednesday and I will put regular updates on my website and on Facebook, but for now the best overview of what is and is not allowed and what economic support will be made available can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
