Council criticises Government over tighter COVID-19 restrictions

The authority had proactively asked for controls on households visiting each other to help control a sharp rise in infections, but stressed that it did not want these to be extended to households meeting socially in pubs, bars and restaurants.

That request fell on deaf ears, and the authority’s hopes of working with the Government to help shape the enhanced restrictions were dashed when ministers announced the new restrictions earlier today with little consultation.

Councillor Shane Moore, Leader of the Council, said: ““What’s extremely disappointing is that our request to the Government was simple because statistics show that 80% of new cases are the result of household visits.

“We made a clear request to have household visits restricted for the time being until we are able to get this situation under control – it really was that simple and clear.

“What’s come back is a ban not only on household visits but also on visits to any social setting with anybody you know, so that means you can’t, for example, go to a COVID-secure pub, café or restaurant with family or friends.

“This will have a seriously detrimental effect on people’s mental health and also have a devastating impact on local businesses, and we would urge ministers to think again.”

Councillor Moore accused the Government of reneging on assurances that enhanced restrictions would not be introduced until the authority had confirmed in writing that it was happy with what was being proposed.

He also said the Government appeared to have no “exit strategy” and it wasn’t clear how long the additional restrictions would be in place.

However, he said he hoped that people would be able to experience some normality over Christmas – but urged everyone to pull together to tackle the virus.