Rochdale faces tighter lockdown measures as coronavirus cases nearly as high as Spain

ROCHDALE faces tighter lockdown measures later this week as coronavirus cases in the town remain nearly as high as Spain. 

Local public health chiefs have already tightened social distancing rules in Rochdale after cases hit 46 cases per 100,000 last week. 

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They will hold a crunch meeting with Rochdale borough council on Friday to decide whether to extend the current measures or add further lockdown restrictions. 

And the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha that starts tomorrow is said to have persuaded local public health bosses to tighten lockdown measures further amid fears it could spark another flare-up.

Residents in Rochdale already face tougher rules than the rest of England and a No10 source said these were the examples of the ‘lightning lockdowns’ that will be imposed for the foreseeable future to suppress local flare-ups of the virus. 

A Downing Street source said: “This is the new normal.”

Residents in Rochdale must maintain two-metre social distancing at all times rather than the ‘one-metre plus’ in place in the rest of the country. 

Residents are also limited to two visitors per home, face masks are encouraged everywhere rather than just in enclosed places. 

Testing has been ratcheted up in the town and is available to residents even if they aren’t showing symptoms, with primary schools being used as temporary testing sites and mobile testing units parachuted into the town. 

Cases have fallen slightly due to these extra measures – to 36 per 100,000 recorded on Monday. 

But council chiefs fear the rate is still too high and local public health sources said the figures are going “up and down” all the time in Rochdale. 

One source said: “It ‘s very unlikely we’re going to drop the measures because we’ve got Eid this weekend. We’ll either extend them or add one or two things.” 

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Rochdale’s neighbouring borough Oldham also introduced tighter restrictions this week after recording more than 50 cases per 100,000. That is one case higher per 100,000 than Spain recorded in its latest count today. 

Last week Blackburn with Darwen council became the first town after Leicester to re-impose social distancing rules after cases hit 80 per 100,000.