Why Hartlepool is not included in the new North East lockdown

Councillor Shane Moore revealed he fought against Hartlepool being part of the new measures confirmed by the Government on Thursday and due to come into effect from Friday, September 18.

Despite Hartlepool’s infection rate per 100,000 people being worse than three of the seven areas in the region included in the new measures, Cllr Moore said he wanted to give the town a ‘final chance' to slow the spread of the virus and avoid going down the same route.

Restrictions in the North East will include a ban on residents socialising with other people outside their own households, table service only in bars and restaurants and the closure of leisure and entertainment venues between 10pm and 5am.

It will cover Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham.

In a video released by Hartlepool Borough Council on Thursday afternoon Cllr Moore said: “At this stage Hartlepool is not affected by these restrictions.

"I actually fought against Hartlepool joining these local authorities as we are very keen to allow residents a final opportunity to help us stop the spread of this virus in the town.

"But I need to be absolutely clear, we are on the Government’s watch list as an area of concern and we all need to continue to follow the rules to avoid the kind of restrictions other parts of the North East are about to experience.”

He said the local authority is putting its confidence in residents and business to follow the guidelines including the rule of six, washing hands regularly and keeping social distancing.

But he told of a worrying case of one person who had returned from a group holiday abroad and carried on as normal despite having Covid-like symptoms, potentially passing it on to many others.

Cllr Moore added: “We still face the very real prospect of Hartlepool being put back into some kind of lockdown just as the town is getting back on its feet, and I like everyone else really don’t want that to happen so the answer is all our hands.”

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