Coronavirus: Blackburn lockdown 'would be disastrous'

People in Blackburn with Darwen have said it will be "disastrous" if the area has to go back into lockdown.

The borough saw the highest coronavirus infection rate in England this week and has been named an "area for intervention" by the government.

Despite measures easing across England this weekend, indoor gyms and leisure centres in the borough cannot reopen.

Nick Talbot, owner of The Fit Mills, said the restrictions on gyms were "unfair".

He said he had invested "a massive amount of money" in social distancing measures, adding: "Why aren't the pubs being shut? Why are other actions being taken?

"We're an industry that prides itself on the health and and wellbeing of people.

"If this carries on much longer gyms are going to be closing all over the borough."

New measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen have already been introduced after a spike in cases.

They include wearing face coverings in enclosed public spaces and tighter limits on visitors from another household, while people are also urged to bump elbows in place of handshakes and hugs.

IT contractor and community worker Mo Congress, who has been documenting daily life in the borough on social media, is working with the council to help get messages out about hand washing and social distancing.

He said: "I've worked to create marketing material in different languages to help educate people on the virus.

"The vast majority are taking it very seriously, businesses are doing all they can.

"A return to a full lockdown would be absolutely disastrous to the local economy."

Sam Ali, from the Switch Youth community organisation, said the "last thing" people want is another lockdown.

"We've been trying to get out of lockdown and get our lives back to normal, to be able to see our families," he said.

"Young people want to play with their friends, attend youth clubs and football clubs. We want to get our lives back."

Blackburn with Darwen council leader Mohammed Khan said he was "very grateful to our communities for working with us".

"We need to keep up the momentum with our strong prevention work so we agree its sensible not to relax the easing of restrictions at the moment to stop the spread," he said.

"We have already decided to delay the opening of our council leisure facilities along with introducing other localised prevention measures."

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