Birmingham tightens curbs as Covid-19 infections rise

LONDON • The authorities in Britain's second largest city of Birmingham have announced new coronavirus restrictions as the nation's viral reproduction rate, or R number, exceeded 1.0 for the first time since March.

From Tuesday, more than 1.1 million people will be banned from mixing with any other household, after the rate of infection in Birmingham rose from 30 to 75 cases per 100,000 people over a week last month.

"I know this is difficult, particularly when we have got used to seeing friends and family," said Mr Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, on Friday.

"But it is vital we stick to these rules and protect each other, given the sudden rise in infection rate."

He added: "The virus has not gone away, it has not weakened, in fact it is relentless and we must be relentless in our efforts to control the spread."

Britain has suffered the deadliest outbreak of Covid-19 in Europe. Another six deaths were reported on Friday, taking the total to 41,614.

Cases fell over the summer months but are now rising sharply, with 3,539 new infections recorded on Friday - the highest daily figure since May 17, bringing the total to 361,677.

The government confirmed the trend on Friday by saying the R number was now 1.0 to 1.2 across the country. The reproduction rate measures the number of people in a population, on average, infected by each person carrying the virus.

Any number above 1.0 indicates the disease is expanding.

In response, coronavirus rules were tightened across the country last week, with England and Scotland notably announcing bans on meetings of more than six people from different households.

"We are now entering a phase of increasing transmission as we head into the autumn," noted Professor Azra Ghani, chair in Infectious Disease Epidemiology at Imperial College London.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE