Dear Resident,

Today we are sharing with you the latest guidance and restrictions to help control the spread of coronavirus in Leeds.

Latest updates to Leeds restrictions

The government has announced that from Monday 2 November, Leeds will move into the ‘very high’ COVID alert level (tier 3), with the latest seven day COVID-19 rate having risen to 416 per 100,000 people. The NHS is experiencing a significant increase in demands from the rise in COVID cases and we must all play our part to protect vital services.

Some of the restrictions are the same as those in tier 2, meaning it is still against the law to:

• have guests inside your home (unless you are in a support bubble)
• go inside someone else’s home (in or outside of Leeds)
• meet people you do not live with outside your household or support bubble in any indoor venue (in or outside of Leeds)

Additional tier 3 restrictions mean it is now also against the law to:

• meet with people you do not live with outside your household or support bubble in private gardens

The Rule of Six applies at all tier levels, so as before you should not meet with more than 5 other people outside in public spaces (such as parks or the countryside).

You must also now:

• avoid travelling outside of Leeds, unless this is for essential travel such as for work, education or for caring responsibilities.

The new government restrictions mean that, from Monday 2 November, certain businesses will be ordered to close. This includes:

• Pubs and bars unless serving alcohol with a substantial meal. All venues that remain open are still subject to the 10pm curfew
• Betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos
• Soft play centres
• Car boot sales
• Indoor exercise classes should not take place, however gyms will remain open
• Shisha bars must not serve shisha, but may operate as cafes

In addition to the above, wedding ceremonies with up to 15 people are permitted but receptions are not. Funerals are permitted up to 30 people.

Shops, schools and universities will remain open.

Playing your part in reducing the spread of coronavirus

We all have an important role to play to reduce the rising infection rates and we can all do our part to stay safe and save lives. Reducing contact with other people outside of your household across all settings is crucial to stopping the spread of the virus and bringing our infection rates down. The less people you come into contact with, the less chance there is of the virus spreading. We can all help to break the chain and reduce the R rate through:

• Limiting the number of people outside our households we come into contact with
• Making space and staying 2m from people outside our households or support bubble
• Washing hands regularly and for 20 seconds
• Covering faces in enclosed spaces
• Isolating when you need to or are advised to

Shielding advice

Although Leeds has moved into the ‘very high’ tier, residents who were told to shield during the first wave of the pandemic do not need to shield at home but should take extra care to stay safe and follow government restrictions.

Please see the statement issued by the leaders of West Yorkshire councils as the area is to be put ino Tier 3 – Very High restrictions from Monday.

Leaders’ Statement following meeting the Secretary of State, Thursday 29th October 2020: 

Over recent days, we have had a number of meetings with government ministers to discuss the next steps for controlling the rising COVID-19 infection rates across the region. Today, with great reluctance, we have accepted that West Yorkshire will now move into Tier Three (Very High) restrictions as of 00.01am on Monday 2nd November.

The virus spread is now at a critical juncture.  Not only are infections rising in our region, particularly amongst the elderly, but we already have evidence that the NHS is starting to struggle to deliver essential elective care.  Once it became clear that heightened restrictions would be necessary, we have been negotiating hard to secure a package of support for our region and our residents – with the aim of reducing the financial uncertainty for people and businesses.

For now, to enable us to take the advised measures to protect people’s health and wellbeing, we have secured a package worth an additional £59.3m to begin to help support West Yorkshire through this time.  This funding is broken down as follows:

• A one-off additional amount of £20 per head: for West Yorkshire this is estimated to be worth £46.6m in additional funding.
• A total of £8 per head to support enhanced test and trace and contain measures, resulting in an additional £12.7m.

We also ensured that this £59.3m package was additional to the existing business grant arrangements previously announced by the Chancellor for Tier Two. This is a major policy shift from government, that will now benefit all the authorities that enter into Tier Three.

That aside, we remain deeply concerned that the impact on the people of the region and the West Yorkshire economy has been desperately underestimated by government. Leaders have been promised further conversations with government ministers in the next few days to discuss local schemes to build on and continue to support the economic recovery of the region.

We expect that our local business support schemes in West Yorkshire will be ready to come into effect at the same time as the planned national government scheme for Tier Two in mid-November, subject to government funding.

The economic package of support alone is not sufficient for us to survive this crisis, so we have agreed with government a full package of joint working including:

• Measurement and review after 28 days
• Strengthening test and trace capabilities
• Clear communication with our communities

For the people of our region, Tier Three restrictions coming into force on Monday are:

• People must not meet socially with friends and family indoors in any setting unless they are part of their household or support bubble. This includes private homes and indoors in hospitality venues, such as pubs. 
• People must not meet with people outside of their household or support bubble in a private garden or in most outdoor public venues. 
• People can continue to see friends and family in groups of six or less that they don’t live with (or have formed a support bubble with) in certain outdoor public spaces, such as a park or public garden. 
• Wedding receptions will not be permitted, but couples can get married with a maximum of 15 people at the ceremony (check with the venue for additional restrictions). 
• Funerals can be attended by up to 30 people; 15 may attend wakes and other commemorative events (check with the venue for additional restrictions). 
• Avoid travelling outside the Very High alert area or entering a Very High alert level area, other than for work, education or for caring responsibilities, or to travel through as part of a longer journey. 
• Avoid staying overnight in another part of the UK. 
• All pubs and bars must close unless they are serving substantial meals, such as a main lunchtime or evening meal. They can only serve alcohol as part of a meal. Pubs, bars and restaurants must still close between 10pm and 5am. Shisha bars must not serve shisha, but can open as cafés.
• All casinos, soft play areas, adult gaming centres, betting shops and car boot sales must close.
• Gyms may continue to open, but the guidance is against indoor exercise classes taking place.

While we continue to have concerns about how we got here, and how restrictions will be supported, we will only come through this difficult period if we all pull together. This means complying with the rules, maintaining social distancing and personal and family hygiene, wearing face masks where required, and self-isolating if asked to do so.

We must take every measure to face this challenge as a community. It’s only by everyone doing their bit that we will beat this virus and get life back to normal, where we can do the things we enjoy.

The local NHS has bought together NHS doctors and public health to talk about misinformation about coronavirus on Tuesday 29 September, from 6 to 7.30pm on NHS Leeds Clinical Commissioning Group’s (CCG) Facebook page www.facebook.com/nhsleeds

The speakers for the evening are Dr Mo Sattar, Dr Andrew Lee, Dr Mizanul Hoque, and Dr Najeeb Rahman. This first session is part of a number of online health education sessions that the CCG will be looking to hold in response to feedback from local people looking for trusted information online.

Dr Mohammed Sattar, GP in Leeds, said: “There’s a lot of misinformation about coronavirus, you hear different things from a number of sources and feel overwhelmed with so much information that you don’t know what to believe.

“The purpose of this Facebook Live session is to explore some of that misinformation, this includes social distancing, how you can reduce the risk of spreading coronavirus, when to get tested and myth busting. We want people to hear what GPs and other health professionals are saying to take away that learning, and to share with family, friends and people within their communities.

“There’s so much information on social media, some of it which is true and some of it isn’t. Some of us will take in what’s being said on the news whether this is in England or your home country. However, we need to feel assured that the information we hear and read is accurate and reliable. Having this live session, we’re hoping to uncover some of the information which may be misleading and inaccurate.”

Dr Jason Broch, GP and Clinical Chair at NHS Leeds CCG, said: “By running the Facebook Live session we’re hoping to provide misinformation about coronavirus.

“It’s an opportunity for people learn more and they can submit their questions to the speakers in advance or on the day of the live session. I would strongly encourage Leeds residents to join the session, we can only overcome misinformation about coronavirus if we hear the truth from healthcare professionals who will give advice in line with the current government guidelines. Visit the NHS website which has the most up to date and accurate information about coronavirus.

“Over the coming months we will be looking to deliver more of these sessions, this will include winter health and cancer signs and symptoms, as well as prevention.”

Join the Facebook Live session on Tuesday 29 September, from 6 to 7.30pm on NHS Leeds CCG Facebook page www.facebook.com/nhsleeds

Questions to the speakers can be sent in advance of the live session, they can be sent by email leedsccg.comms@nhs.net or by Facebook www.facebook.com/nhsleeds or Twitter https://twitter.com/nhsleeds

If you have a smartphone you can now download the NHS Covid 19 app from today. The more people who use the app the more useful it will be and so everyone over 16 in England and Wales is asked to download it.As well as contact tracing, health chiefs say the goal is to change people’s behaviour to make them less likely to catch or transmit the coronavirus.

The Government decided not to put new local lockdown restrictions on Leeds this week but it has been moved up to being an area of concern and to receive enhanced national support to help curb the rise in coronavirus cases.  A statement from Leeds City Council is here :

https://news.leeds.gov.uk/news/leeds-people-urged-to-help-city-stay-out-of-further-restrictions

Leeds City Council are texting the most vulnerable residents (on the shielding list) and are asking everyone to take care to protect the vulnerable – and all of us in the city: