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Swale in Kent becomes England's Covid hotspot after cases rise

A district of Kent has become England’s worst-hit Covid hotspot, with local leaders putting the jump in cases down to deprivation and a “wilful disregard of the rules”.

Swale reported a rate of 631.7 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to 18 November, according to government figures – up from 425.8 per 100,000 over the previous seven days.

The coastal borough, which includes Sittingbourne, Faversham and the Isle of Sheppey, has overtaken Hull as the English authority with the highest Covid-19 rate.

The news has come as a shock to local residents and businesses as it has been rare during the pandemic for an area in the south-east to fall into the top 20 local authorities in England for infection rate.

Amid concerns over compliance with coronavirus restrictions, the leader of Swale council, Roger Truelove, called an emergency meeting on Monday afternoon to address the soaring case numbers.

He said: “I know most people and businesses are doing what they should, but it is frustrating to still see people not wearing face coverings or keeping their distance when they should. This kind of wilful disregard of the rules means we are more likely to have further restrictions imposed on us in December.”

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Senior representatives from Kent county council, Kent police, HM Prison Service, the Department for Work and Pensions and the local voluntary sector were invited to attend.

After the meeting Truelove said: “What we really want to get across to our local population is that if we don’t get our figures down, we are going to be in a very high restrictive tier going forward throughout the winter.”

Deprivation has also played a role, Truelove added, as the areas worst affected are the poorest and most deprived, where people live in houses close together and may not be able to work from home. He added: “It doesn’t take many people to not observe the social distancing for it to cause a spike.”

Truelove believes there is a notable difference in the intensity of compliance to the restrictions between the first and second national lockdown. The council will therefore “supercharge the messaging to people” to take the pandemic seriously and follow the restrictions in place.

“We do get reports of crowding in supermarkets and so we will be writing to supermarkets,” Truelove said. He added there had been reports of children who were supposed to be isolating being taken out shopping.

Jack Connor, who represents Swale at the Kent youth county council, agreed that cases had risen sharply in the area because residents, including young people, had been “flouting the rules”. He is supportive of the area entering tier 3 restrictions and hopes the latest figures will be a wake-up call to residents. He said the role deprivation had played and the decision to keep schools open should not be ignored as factors.

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Sarah Simmons, a consultant at the Three Mariners pub in Oare near Faversham, said the lack of clarity on whether Swale would enter the highest tier and how long for was a devastating blow for local businesses. “Words cannot express the fear and emotion for all those in our industry right now.

“We’re desperate to trade, but we’re even more desperate for guidance.” She warned that the lack of a long-term plan and the stop and start of the industry, which is people-led and depends on fresh product, made the businesses more difficult to run.

Danni Hollands, marketing manager at the Black Lion pub in Lynsted near Sittingbourne, said the significant increase in cases over a short period had come as a shock to the area and that she was worried about what it meant for the hospitality sector. “We feel as an industry that we’ve kind of been sidelined. Yes, it’s very difficult to control the pandemic in the hospitality industry, hence why we’ve been hit the hardest, but the financial support we are getting from the government is absolutely minimal and really isn’t helping.”