No local lockdown expected in Sunderland council confirms, as health boss slams suggestions city is 'at risk'

Sunderland’s director of public health has slammed ‘misleading and alarmist reports’ which suggest the city has been included in a list of 36 areas ‘at risk’ of a local lockdown.

It comes as figures by Public Health England, released on Wednesday, July 1, reveal Sunderland’s latest coronavirus rate – for the week ending Sunday, June 21 – currently stands at 1.8 cases per 100,000 of the city population.

Leicester - which was put into local lockdown on Monday – is at the other end of the scale and its most recent rate stands at 140.2 for the same time period.

Earlier this week a number of media outlets, none of which are based in Sunderland, claimed that city was among 36 areas ‘at risk’ of being put into lockdown.

Gillian Gibson, Sunderland’s Director of Public Health said: “We are aware of misleading and alarmist reports which have been circulating over the last couple of days suggesting that Sunderland is on a list of 36 areas ‘at risk’ of a local lockdown.

“We would like to reassure residents that based on current national and local data these reports couldn’t be further from the truth.

“National published data shows that there have only been two new cases of Covid 19 between 6 and 23 June.

“New Public Health England figures also show that for the week ending 21 June, there were just 1.8 recorded cases of Covid per 100,000 people in Sunderland.

“This ranks Sunderland at 125th out of 150 upper tier local authorities, and one of the lowest rates in England and Wales.

“The City Council is continuing to monitor all nationally and locally available data to give it an accurate and updated picture of the number of Covid cases.

“And, although we are not allowed to do so at the moment, we are seeking to share more of this data with partners and local communities.

“However we can confirm that figures are not causing any concern currently.

“While it is vital that we all continue to observe social distancing, and good hand hygiene and stay at home as much as possible, we are not expecting a local lockdown as long as people continue to behave sensibly.”

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