Category Archives: Blackburn

Who are the pro-Gaza independents who unseated Labour MPs?

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All four capitalised on dissatisfaction over Labour’s stance on the Gaza war but said they had other priorities too

On a momentous night for Keir Starmer and the Labour party, nothing was going to detract from the celebrations. But the results weren’t all positive. Among the matters for Labour to ponder when the hangovers have cleared is the loss of four seats to pro-Palestinian candidates amid dissatisfaction over the party’s stance on the Gaza war. Here is more about the four independents who upset the odds.

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‘Don’t take us for granted’: Muslim voters send message to Labour over its Gaza stance

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Labour lost seats including Jonathan Ashworth’s in Leicester, where angry voters say they felt ignored

When Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth lost his Leicester South seat to the pro-Palestine independent candidate Shockat Adam, it was widely seen as one of the biggest upsets of election night.

But a walk along Evington Road, a busy shopping street with a large Muslim population in the constituency, showed that all the signs were there.

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Covid cases have peaked in Blackburn, official figures show

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Infections in England’s worst-affected council area fall steadily since 7 June, says PHE

Covid cases in Blackburn with Darwen, the local authority with England’s highest infection rate, have peaked, Public Health England figures indicate.

PHE data shows a total of 897 cases in Blackburn with Darwen for the seven days to 10 July, giving the town a rolling rate of 599 cases per 100,000 people.

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India variant will be dominant UK Covid strain ‘in next few days’

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Scientists’ warning comes as government comes under pressure to explain border policy

The Covid variant first detected in India is set to be the dominant strain in the UK within days, experts have said, with the government and health teams struggling to contain cases, which have risen by more than 75% since Thursday.

With the rapid spread of the more transmissible B.1.617.2 variant threatening to reverse moves to ease lockdown, the government faced intense pressure to more fully explain the delay in adding India to the so-called red list of countries.

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Outsourced firms miss 46% of Covid test contacts in England’s worst-hit areas

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Serco and Sitel paid more than £200m to test and trace but reach just over half of infected people’s contacts

Outsourcing companies running the government’s flagship test-and-trace system have failed to reach nearly half of potentially exposed people in areas with the highest Covid infections rates in England, official figures show.

In the country’s 20 worst-hit areas, Serco and Sitel – paid £200m between them – reached only 54% of people who had been in close proximity to an infected person, meaning more than 21,000 exposed people were not contacted.

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Outsourcing firms miss 46% of Covid contacts in England’s worst-hit areas

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Serco and Sitel paid £200m to test and trace, but reach just over half of infected people’s contacts in some regions

Outsourcing companies leading the government’s flagship test-and-trace system have failed to reach nearly half of potentially exposed people in areas with the highest Covid infection rates in England, official figures show.

In the country’s 20 worst-hit areas, Serco and Sitel – paid £200m between them – reached only 54% of people who had been in close proximity to an infected person, meaning more than 21,000 exposed people were not contacted.

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What are the new lockdown rules in northern England?

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All you need to know about the updated coronavirus measures affecting more than 4m people

More than 4 million people across swathes of northern England were given less than three hours’ notice on Thursday night that they must endure tighter lockdown restrictions to stem a resurgence of Covid-19 cases.

But what what exactly do the new measures mean for those living in affected areas in the north and elsewhere in England?

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Test and trace failing to contact thousands in England’s worst-hit areas

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Exclusive: proportion of close contacts being reached is below 80% in high infection areas

The government’s flagship test-and-trace system is failing to contact thousands of people in areas with the highest infection rates in England, raising further questions about the £10bn programme described by Boris Johnson as “world-beating”.

Local leaders and directors of public health are demanding more control over the tracing operation amid concerns that their ability to contain the virus is being put at risk.

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Test and trace failures risk exponential case growth in England, official warns

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Blackburn with Darwen’s public health director says only half those at risk in north-west being contacted

Failures of the government’s test-and-trace system are risking an exponential growth of coronavirus in hotspots across England, a director of public health has warned.

Dominic Harrison, the director of public health in Blackburn with Darwen, said the national tracing system was only managing to reach half of those who had been in close contact with a coronavirus patient in towns with high infection rates in the north-west.

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