Neighbouring town to Milton Keynes placed onto 'area of intervention' list over Covid-19 infection rates

The Government has escalated Northampton from an 'area of concern' to an 'area of intervention' over its Covid-19 infection rates.

The town has been added to a to the Government's watchlist after the borough's infection rate has risen for the fourth week in a row.

It comes after sandwich-packaging factory Greencore UK on Moulton Park last week (August 13) reported an outbreak of nearly 300 cases amongst workers. At the time, borough council leader Jonathan Nunn called the outbreak "a disaster" for Northampton's infection figures.

Greencore to close today more than a week after Northampton outbreak announced.

Government advice lists an 'area of intervention' as a place with different measures in place than the rest of England because of the "significance" of the virus' spread, and a 'detailed action plan' is in place.

On Thursday (August 20), the virus rate per 100,000 people was recorded at 748, which was marked as "significantly higher" that the regional average at 523 per 100,000 people.

In a statement issued today, director of public health for Northamptonshire Lucy Wightman said: "Northampton borough has been experiencing a high number of cases over the last 4 weeks and from today will be added to the government’s watchlist as an 'Area of Intervention'."

It comes as the Greencore factory has also announced it is "voluntarily" closing down for two weeks and sending all staff home to self-isolate.

Lucy Wightman said: "Local testing data shows this spike is significantly influenced by a workplace outbreak at the Greencore Factory.

"As a result the factory will close voluntarily from today, and most employees and their direct households will be required to isolate at home for two weeks."

Northampton has seen 1,680 officially-confirmed Covid cases since the start of the pandemic and more than 520 Covid-linked deaths. This compares to 932 cases and 104 deaths in MK.

While Milton Keynes' infection rate has been rising over the past three weeks, the city figures remain low to average compared to the rest of the nation - and particularly the local region.

But MK Council leader Pete Marland has warned the people of Milton Keynes must not be complacent, and if infections continues to show signs of getting out of control, the council will not hesitate to introduce local restriction measures, he said earlier this week.