Leeds City Council
The leader of Leeds City Council, Judith Blake has called on Government for urgent support as the costs of Leeds’ coronavirus response nears £200 million. The Government have given councils £3.2 billion to support councils. However, this translates as only £43.7 million for Leeds leaving our city with a black hole of £154.6 million.
The Local Government Association (LGA) estimated that a further £6 billion was needed to support councils across the country in this year alone. Without this, the council will be forced again to find cuts to services—which after 10 years of austerity will hit hard everyone with a stake in our city. I will be doing what I can in Parliament to press the Government to make good on their commitment to tackle the harm caused by coronavirus.
Our residents and businesses need a financially viable council to ensure our recovery and protect public health. Never has there been a time where local government matters more.
Cases and Mortality
Nationally, as of 9am on the 16th June there have been 6,981,493 tests, and 298,136 people have tested positive. As of 5pm on 15th June, of those who have tested positive for the coronavirus in the UK, across all settings, 41,969 have sadly died.
As at 5pm on 15th June, the number of confirmed cases within Leeds stood at 1,884. The total number of reported deaths of people who tested positive with COVID-19 in Leeds hospitals up to 5pm on 15th June is 324.
Leeds City Council death registrations includes all deaths where ‘COVID-19’ or ‘coronavirus’ is mentioned on the death certificate, whether the only or main cause of death or as a contributing factor. Of the 624 covid-19 related deaths registered so far, 612 (98%) were Leeds residents, 341 (55%) were in hospitals, 250 (40%) were in care homes, 12 (2%) in a hospice, and 21 (3%) in their own home.
To date, 29% of all deaths registered have been covid-19 related. There are currently 3 care homes with Covid-19 outbreaks.
Test and Trace App
The Government have ditched their current coronavirus-tracing app and shifting to a model based on technology provided by Apple and Google.
Boris Johnson on the 20th May said: “We have growing confidence that we will have a test, track and trace operation that will be world-beating and, yes, it will be in place by June 1.”
The Government have failed on PPE, failed on testing, failed on timing and are now failing on test and trace. I am thankful we have a local council in Leeds with a clear strategy for our public health, though it seems the Government are failing them as well.