Stroud district councillors have written to their Conservative MP calling on the Government to halt the lifting of coronavirus restrictions next week.
The leader of the district council Doina Cornell and her fellow Labour councillors have written an open letter to MP Siobhan Baillie that an overwhelming number of scientists and public health officials believe that the lifting of all legal restrictions is reckless and dangerous.
People do not have to die and an exit wave is not inevitable, the letter says.
They want the Stroud MP to recognise the severity of the situation and the anxieties of the majority of people by calling on the government to halt the immediate lifting of all restrictions.
And do everything in her power to ensure that masks remain mandatory in all public indoor locations while ensuring that meaningful financial support is available immediately for everyone having to isolate.
They also want her to work with schools to ensure proper ventilation is in place for the autumn term.
“Local infection rates are nearing their January peak,” the letter reads.
“While deaths and hospitalisations are currently below those levels, there is uncertainty on the numbers affected by Long Covid (likely 10 per cent), or those who, despite being twice vaccinated, become seriously ill.
“There is already a waiting list of hundreds to join a local Long Covid support group. There is no plan for the clinically extremely vulnerable, and vaccine availability is increasingly patchy. The Covid-positive age profile is radically different – we are in unknown territory.
“Local NHS services are under severe pressure. Waiting times at Gloucester Royal Accident and Emergency reached nine hours this week.
“Businesses and schools are severely affected, both by infections, and the need to isolate. People are understandably frightened by the unravelling of government support and guidelines.
“Children and public facing workers are guinea pigs in a massive public health experiment that will result in avoidable death and long-term health issues.
“While we all long for a return to normality, we believe that a gradual and phased approach, with clear rules and guidelines, is essential for the health and wellbeing of everyone across the Stroud constituency.
“What our government is doing is reckless, offering the deceptive freedom of ‘personal choice’ when many of our friends and neighbours have none.
“You have called for the removal of all restrictions, and told concerned constituents that you ‘will not routinely’ wear a mask. You say that we must ‘manage our own risk’. Yet mask wearing does nothing for your own risk – but everything for other people.
“We have made it so far. Let’s not risk plunging the country back into a tiered lockdown once again.
“We must continue to support the NHS, the clinically vulnerable, workers, businesses, schools and everyone whose health and livelihood is affected by the current situation.
“Yes, we have to live with Covid – but we do not have to die from it.”
A total of 163 members of the public have signed the open letter so far.
Siobhan Baillie has been approached for comment.
