Forcing Oldham into a tighter lockdown would not only “cripple” the local economy but fuel racial tensions, the council’s deputy leader has warned the government.
Officials from the Cabinet Office toured Oldham on Wednesday, led by local politicians and health experts desperate to avoid a “Leicester-style” lockdown.
Arooj Shah, Oldham’s deputy leader, told the Guardian racism was on the increase in the district after it was singled out as an infection hotspot three weeks ago, with the Pakistani community particularly badly hit.
“For those who have prejudices it is a really handy excuse. That’s why the step the government takes cannot be a blunt tool of lockdown for places like Oldham. Not only will it cripple our economy but the social impact will be absolutely huge and the blame will lie at the door of the government,” Shah said.
Her comments came as Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester city council and a deputy mayor of Greater Manchester, warned that tighter restrictions in the region were “causing more damage than they are saving lives”.
On Wednesday the mayor, Andy Burnham, said he would write to Matt Hancock, the health secretary, to oppose a full lockdown in Oldham. He said the region’s leaders agreed the ban on gatherings in homes and gardens should remain in the town and in most of Greater Manchester. But he said it should be lifted in Wigan, where infections have stayed low since the restrictions were imposed on 31 July.
Although Covid cases have risen slightly in half of Greater Manchester’s 10 boroughs, 14 people died there from Covid last week, compared with 237 in the last week of April. Only 14 Covid patients are in intensive care in the region’s hospitals, with most new cases among young people who have had such mild symptoms they “don’t even ring their GP”, Leese said.
More people died in the city of Manchester last week from the effects of smoking than from Covid, he added.
While the infection rate in Oldham has slowed, it is still the highest in the UK, with 83.1 cases per 100,000 people in the week to 15 August, down from 107.5 a week earlier. There were 197 new infections in that period, compared with 255 the week before.
Most recent infections in the town, which had race riots in 2001, have been among the Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities, Shah said. Although details on the occupations of those infected was patchy – with only one in 10 case files stating the patient’s job – many worked in high-risk occupations, such as in transport, care or on the NHS frontline, according to Oldham council.
“In terms of behaviour and social distancing, there has been no evidence that those communities affected behave differently from any others,” said Shah.
Research from the Essex University and the London School of Economics this month found that Britons of Pakistani or black Caribbean background had reduced their social interactions more than their white counterparts in June.
Nonetheless, a loud minority in Oldham continued to blame Asians for flouting the guidelines, Shah said. “It has increased tensions. While many people do understand the additional vulnerabilities the Asian communities face, we have to acknowledge that for a certain minority it has been an opportunity to air their own prejudices.
“We see increasing racism on social media. It has been horrible. On Eid they were circulating pictures from years ago and from areas across the country, referring to the ‘flip-flop brigade’, just horrible, horrible stuff. We have had to block people off [the council’s] social media because they were peddling so much racism.”
Shah said many of those being infected had felt they had to work because otherwise they would not get paid: “We’ve heard a lot of ‘but I have to go to work, but when I get back from work, I wash’. People are trying to do their bit. These people are not being ignorant of the rules. They are basically backed up against a wall, on zero hours or really low incomes, and not going to work just isn’t an option.”
She said that forcing businesses to close under a full lockdown could cause more deaths than Covid: “While we might be looking at deaths from the virus now, in a couple of months we will be looking at deaths through poverty.”
At a press conference on Wednesday, Leese said: “It is becoming increasingly clear that some of the measures that government has imposed are now almost certainly causing more damage than they are saving lives. We have seen over the past few weeks a significant increase in people with mental health issues presenting through police phone calls and to mental health services, and that’s down to prolonged restrictions on people’s lives.
“The economic situation continues to deteriorate and we know that being long-term unemployed has a major impact on people’s health and premature death.”
A government spokesperson said: “Targeted local action to tackle outbreaks is crucial to prevent the further spread of the virus, which is why we are working closely with local authorities and continue to be led by scientific and medical experts. Through strong community engagement and major boosts in testing, we want to see any necessary local restrictions removed as soon as possible.
“There is no excuse for targeting anyone of any background because of coronavirus. We all have a part to play in defeating the virus, and encourage people to come together to support friends, families and neighbours at this time.”