Halton saw coronavirus infections continue to rise this week as the borough was placed into Tier 3 restrictions along with the rest of the Liverpool City Region.
Although Halton’s infection rate, at around 400 cases per 100,000, is lower than other parts of the city region, the borough was deemed very high risk at the start of the week.
As well as the rising infection rate, the decision appears to have been based on increasing hospital admissions.
Warrington and Halton Hospitals saw the number of Covid-19 patients on its wards rise by 50% over the course of the week, reaching 89 on Friday with 11 in ICU.
This total is already well above the levels seen at the start of the first lockdown in March and poses a serious risk that NHS services could be overwhelmed within weeks if cases continue to rise at the same rate.
But Halton’s MP, Derek Twigg, objected to the restrictions, saying the government had not provided enough support to affected residents, businesses and councils.
Mr Twigg said: “I did not agree to the Tier 3 restrictions we are being placed under and I was not invited to any meetings that took place over the weekend regarding the new restrictions. I was also not consulted.
“I have not been convinced that the measures are right, given that we have had four lots of new measures imposed on us in recent weeks - on September 14, September 22, September 24 and on October 3. They have not been given a chance to see if they will have an impact.
“The government have not provided the data to justify more severe restrictions on Halton. It is clear the government have no strategy. I do not believe Halton's numbers justify us being put in Tier 3.”
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In Parliament, Mr Twigg asked the prime minister for an explanation of why Halton had been placed in Tier 3 despite having lower infection rates than some areas in Tier 2, but received no answer.
On Friday, Mr Twigg expressed further anger that gyms in Lancashire had been allowed to remain open despite the county being placed into Tier 3.
In a letter to health secretary Matt Hancock, he said: “I think it is disgraceful that we are being treated differently and I have not been supplied with any evidence of why our gyms and leisure centres have been closed.”
