Local lockdowns: Whole cities could be quarantined to suppress coronavirus spikes – but how would new shutdowns work?

New system could be in place as early as Thursday but details remain light on ground

Matt Hancock confirmed the controversial strategy would be part of the government’s test, track and trace system (Reuters)

So-called local lockdowns could be imposed on whole towns and cities if there are regional flare-ups of coronavirus, the government has confirmed.

But far smaller sites – such as schools, workplaces or even specific neighbourhoods – might also be quarantined to curb any infection spikes, according to suggestions by ministers.

Matt Hancock confirmed the controversial strategy – which could see millions ordered to stay at home while others move about freely – would be part of the government’s test, track and trace system, which it is hoped will help the UK cope long-term with Covid-19.

Speaking at the daily Downing Street press conference on Tuesday evening, the health secretary said: “Local lockdowns will be part of the future system that we put in place as part of the NHS test-and-trace system.”

Yet while some reports suggest the initiative will begin as early as Thursday – an apparent attempt to give parents confidence that schools can reopen safely on Monday – there remains precious few details on how exactly it would work.

The suggestion, for now, appears to be that the new Joint Biosecurity Centre – set up this month – will identify area-specific changes in infection rates and advise Public Health England and local directors of public health on the need for possible shutdowns.

It could mean that cities like Norwich, where city scientists have proposed testing the entire population once a week, remain relatively free; while towns such as Barrow-in-Furness where there has been a huge spike in cases, could stay isolating for longer.

The extent of those shutdowns may depend on the severity of the infection, analysts believe. In China, a similar scheme saw millions of residents of entire cities told to stay at home and public transport in and out of areas stopped when cases emerged.

Speaking on Wednesday morning, Robert Jenrick, the communities secretary, said: “If there is a flare-up in one particular community – and that could be on quite a small scale like a particular workplace or school – then measures can be introduced which hopefully the public will get behind, enable us to control the virus in that locality and enable the rest of the population to have more freedom to go about their daily business.”

He told BBC Breakfast: ”If the system works as we hope, it will be on quite a micro level as you say. It will be trying to judge if there are flare-ups in particular places, whether that’s parts of towns, schools, hospitals, workplaces.”

How exactly such shutdowns would be imposed also remains open to speculation – although it seems almost certain the burden of responsibility will be placed on already struggling local councils.

Professor John Newton, leader of the government’s Covid-19 testing programme, said “many different organisations”, including councils and local businesses, will be involved.

“It is a whole-country effort,” he told the Downing Street press conference. “It has a national component, but it has a very important local component as well, which needs to reflect ... the special characteristics of different parts of the country.”