Gainsborough MP told the Government we can't just rely on lockdowns to beat coronavirus

Gainsborough’s MP has called for more people to be reliant on themselves over fears that “every successive lockdown is less and less effective”.
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Sir Edward Leigh, Gainsborough MP, told the House of Commons on Wednesday that the government could not “just rely” on lockdowns.

Sir Edward said: “Many of us who will vote for the government tonight […] are worried that with every successive lockdown they are less and less effective because whilst every death is tragic, young people will have noticed reports that out of a population of 10s of millions, only 400 have actually died who are healthy between 16 and 60.

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“Will the Prime Minister tell people like me in the priority groups that there has to be an element of self-reliance, self-isolation and actually looking after our own health?”

Sir Edward Leigh speaking in ParliamentSir Edward Leigh speaking in Parliament
Sir Edward Leigh speaking in Parliament

He also urged the Prime Minsiter to get rid of “bureaucratic hurdles” after reporting the Gainsborough testing centre had been turning down people who were not showing symptoms away.

“Surely we want to encourage all carers or all elderly people to go in and be tested,” he added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it was “absolutely right” that people be encouraged to get tested and pointed to initiatives which encouraged community testing.

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“I totally support that, but I also think that the British public and this house overwhelmingly supports measures to protect the NHS and save lives.

“He makes a valid point about the way that coronavirus impact on the population — it does fall disproportionately on the elderly in the vulnerable — but those lives must be saved where we possibly can, and I think that is what people of all generations in this country want to do.”

And Spalding MP John Hayes also asked for reassurance that GPs will be equipped to vaccinate the vulnerable in order to tackle the isolation that lockdown would cause.

In a speech to the House prior to a full debate on the latest lockdown, Mr Johnson told members of parliament that the new variant of Covid-19 was spreading “with frightening ease and speed”.

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He said: “Our emergence from the lockdown cocoon will not be a big bang, but a gradual unwrapping.”

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