Beaches may be forced to close if crowds spark second wave

Following the Government’s support of Dominic Cummings, the public is ignoring lockdown rules more regularly, Labour MPs have argued (Picture: PA)

Coastal MPs are warning the public to stay away from Britain’s beaches as a second wave of coronavirus could see them shut down.

Alarming pictures last week showed thousands of sunbathers crammed onto the sand at beauty spots along the UK’s south coast, many breaking social distancing rules to do so.

Bournemouth, Brighton and the south west saw crowds flocking, many large groups of people clearly not from the same household, according to council leaders. The relaxation of Government lockdown restrictions means people can now enjoy day trips as long as they follow social distancing rules.

But huge numbers of tourists at beaches in Dorset saw leaders there warning it may become the first county in England to suffer a second spike, with Public Health England confirming the coronavirus ‘R’ rate of infection has increased to above one in parts of the UK – including the south west.

Now, several MPs have joined those warning that their areas could be hit with localised lockdowns following a potential surge in coronavirus cases.

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Brighton Pavilion MP Caroline Lucas said the Government’s test and trace programme wasn’t advanced enough yet to cope with the thousands of day-trippers heading to the coast.

She said: ‘Local businesses in Brighton are already suffering hugely from this crisis. It would be a disaster for them if strict lockdown measures had to be re-imposed locally because of a rising infection rate partly brought about by thousands of visitors.

‘To visitors who love coming to Brighton, we love having you, but I’m asking you now – please, stay away until the city is ready to welcome you.’

Labour have warned that if the Government’s test and trace system does not improve there will be no way to track people visiting overcrowded beaches (Picture: Getty)

Dorset council leaders have warned it may become the first county in England to suffer a second spike, with Public Health England confirming the coronavirus ‘R’ rate of infection has increased to above one in the south west (Credits: PA)

Sheryll Murray, the Tory MP for South East Cornwall, warned changing tides make it very difficult for people to socially distance on Cornwall’s coastline.

She said: ‘We see waves at the beach but the wave I do not want to see is a second virus wave caused by too many people coming to our fabulous coastline.

‘People should also make themselves aware of tides. When the tide comes in the beach can shrink substantially and this should be taken account of.’

St Austell and Newquay MP Steve Double admitted too many visitors could see the area forced into lockdown.

He said: ‘Whilst people have the freedom to travel to visit beaches, we would ask people to continue to be responsible.

‘If you arrive and a beach looks full then please don’t go onto the beach, it’s very important that if people do visit they maintain social distancing.

‘Clearly if too many people visit our beaches and behave in an irresponsible way then we do run the risk of the government taking steps to restrict access to our beaches.’

Durdle Door in Dorset was closed to the public after three people were seriously injured jumping off the cliff into the sea on a busy weekend in May (Picture: PA)

Community Safety officers, employed by the local Council, patrol the beach to try to enforce social distancing measures in Southend-on-Sea during the sunny bank holiday weekend last month (Picture: Getty)

Labour have now warned that if the Government’s test and trace system does not improve there will be no way to track people visiting overcrowded beaches.

Shadow Communites Secretary Steve Reed told The Sun the Dominic Cummings scandal meant people were now more likely to breach the rules.

He said: ‘Councils are worried this is encouraging people to break the rules themselves and overcrowd the beaches without a track and trace system in place to keep everyone safe.

‘The Government needs to get a grip on track and trace quickly.

‘Otherwise, the country risks another catastrophic spike of infection that will lead to a second lockdown with more deaths and job losses across Britain.’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that local lockdowns are possible if Covid-19 flares up again in certain areas as part of the Government’s strategy for fighting the pandemic going forward.

Professor John Newton, leader of the Government’s coronavirus testing programme, added that outbreak control in different areas of the country ‘is likely to be used’.

Sunbathers at Boscombe beach in Bournemouth on May 30 (Picture: Getty)

People queue to get onto the beach at Durdle Door, near Lulworth in Dorset, following the relaxation of lockdown restrictions at the end of May (Picture: PA)

It follows news the coronavirus ‘R’ rate of infection has increased to above one in parts of the UK.

The crucial number, which indicates how many others a person with coronavirus will infect, has increased to 1.01 in the North West of England and to exactly 1 in the South West.

According to data produced by Public Health England and scientists from Cambridge University, the number has increased 0.73 in just a few short weeks.

Coronavirus has a natural R rate of 3, which means if there were no social distancing measures in place a person carrying Covid-19 would infect three others, who would each then go on to infect three others and so on.

Social distancing and lockdown measures in the UK had managed to reduce the rate of infection. At the start of May, before the strict lockdown restrictions started to lift, the R rate was understood to sit somewhere between 0.5 and 0.9.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, PHE medical director, said: ‘It is vital that everyone continues with social distancing, practising good hand hygiene and must remain at home and order a test if they have symptoms.’

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