Leicester mums living yards apart on street split by lockdown can’t let kids play together under ‘crazy’ new rules
TWO mums living yards apart on a street in Leicester say their kids won't be able to play together under the city's "crazy" new lockdown rules.
Yaz Kayrim and Siri Evangeline live one door away from each other on Keld Drive on the outskirts of the city but their houses are split by Leicester's new coronavirus lockdown border.
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Leicester was put into the UK's first local lockdown on Monday night after a worrying spike saw Public Health England identify 2,987 coronavirus cases in the area - ten per cent of all cases across the country.
All non essential shops were shut while pubs, cafes and restaurants will no longer reopen with the rest of England for Super Saturday this weekend.
Anyone who falls within the lockdown boundary has been urged to stay at home and avoid non-essential travel to and from the area.
'DISSAPOINTING'
Yaz, who lives within the lockdown border with her hubby and three-year-old son Hazia in Barkby Thorpe, told the Sun Online: "It’s so disappointing.
"Just when we thought we were back to some normality and making plans to see family, friends and our new neighbours this happens.
"The crazy thing is me and my immediate neighbour are now stuck in a zone with restrictions imposed but one neighbour and other householders down the road are out of it and free to enjoy the easing of rules from Saturday."
We haven't had a chance to get to know each other and just have snatched conversations at a distance on the drive.
Siri Evangeline
The 35-year-old customer service adviser moved into her three-bed mews house shortly before the nation-wide lockdown began.
She had been hoping to make friends with support worker Siri, 37, who has a five-year-old daughter Chanelle, but the new rules mean they will have to wait.
Siri said: "We haven't had a chance to get to know each other and just have snatched conversations at a distance on the doorstep or on the drive.
"We wanted to get together properly and introduce the kids as soon as possible.
"It’s ridiculous that I could soon go to the pub or a hair salon allowed to open but I can't go into my neighbour’s home two doors away or she visit mine.
"I’m happy to be out of the zone but I have no idea why they’ve split out little street in two. It’s quite ridiculous that some of can have freedoms that other’s can't enjoy."
The new rules do not state children from different zones cannot play together, but people are urged not to travel between them.
'BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY'
Yaz, who has been self-isolating with her family, said: "Everyone’s getting sick of it now, its been going on too long."
She blames the local lockdown on "lots of people with no interest in playing their part", adding: "We’d rather be safe than sorry and we have to be careful because my husband suffers from an illness.
"Hopefully it will only be another fortnight before we can enjoy relaxed measures like the rest of my street."
Siri can't wait to get back to her new-normality but agrees with her neighbour that a second lockdown was "the right thing to do to stop the virus spreading."
Leicestershire police Chief Constable Simon Cole said yesterday that he had “huge sympathy” with people living on streets that had been cut down the middle on the lockdown map.
But he added: “You’ve got to draw the line somewhere.”
What are the new rules in Leicester?
Residents who fall within Leicester's lockdown boundary will be subject to certain restrictions. The following measures will be reviewed on July 18...
- Non-essential shops closed from 30 June
- Bars, restaurants and hairdressers will not reopen on 4 July
- Schools to close from Thursday 2 July except to vulnerable children and children of key workers. They will not reopen until next term
- Relaxation of shielding measures due on 6 July cannot now take place in Leicester
- Single-adult households can still form a support bubble with one other household
- Groups of six can still meet outdoors if social distancing
- Recommended to stay at home as much as possible
- Advised against all but essential travel to, from and within Leicester
Mr Cole said the force hopes “common sense will prevail” and will only enforce restrictions such as road blocks as a last resort.
He added that all locked down locals need to do is stay at home: “It’s a pretty simple equation really - we live in an area where there’s a very, very dangerous disease that makes people really ill, and we currently, sadly, lead the nation in that illness.
“What people are being asked to do is stay at home, what people are being asked to do is only travel if it’s absolutely essential."
A postcode checker has now been produced to try to end the confusion over which parts of Leicestershire are in the local lockdown area and which are not.
It comes as neighbouring areas have raised concerns that people from Leicester will travel outside of the lockdown this weekend.
Nottinghamshire Police said it is working with British Transport Police to clamp down on unnecessary travel from Leicester, while pubs in Nottingham have vowed to turn away Leicester residents who try to chance a pint this weekend.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock tightened restrictions on Leicester and nearby suburbs on Monday, ordering non-essential shops to close and urging people not to travel in or out of the area.
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Around 866 people in Leicester were found to have had Covid-19 in the last two weeks.
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Almost 3,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the city since the start of the pandemic.
There have been outbreaks at food production facilities.
