Anglesey GP calls for local lockdown ‘sooner rather than later’ amid worries coronavirus outbreak could spiral out of control

An Anglesey GP has called for a local lockdown to be imposed on the island “sooner rather than later” amid worries an outbreak of the coronavirus could spiral out of control.

The latest figures released by Public Health Wales show 175 people have now tested positive for COVID-19 following a wave of cases among staff at the 2 Sisters poultry processing plant in Llangefni.

Employees at the factory have been asked to self-isolate for 14 days to help limit the spread of the virus, while the facility itself has been closed down for the same period.

However, Amlwch-based doctor Harry Pritchard believes a local lockdown also needs to be put in place to prevent people in the community from becoming infected.

Speaking on BBC Radio Wales this morning, Dr Pritchard said he believed such a measure should be voluntary, and expressed concerns that the track and trace system in place would not be sufficient on its own.

He said: “Nobody wants to see the lockdown enforced, but if you say it’s a voluntary lockdown and not to open shops on Anglesey, I think that would be very helpful.

“The concern I have is track and trace is very new. I think this is probably one of the first big instances where it is required.

“If it works, yes fine, but we don’t know whether this tool is going to work and until we can prove it is going to work then I would support a lockdown sooner rather than later.

“What we don’t want is a lockdown in two weeks when things are too late and the virus has got out of control on the island.”

The Welsh Government has not ruled out introducing stricter lockdown restrictions on Anglesey after the First Minister spoke about the outbreak yesterday.

Dr Pritchard said he believed it would be the right move after voicing worries that people were no longer observing the rules as strictly.

He said: “My disappointment has been the fact people haven’t put the message through to the people of Anglesey just to be careful really.

“They should continue like they were four to six weeks ago.

“I think we’ve all been a bit more lax in the last few weeks. We’ve been going out a bit more and going shopping maybe a bit more often.

“I’ve noticed people have been meeting friends and relatives, but we need to tell the people of Anglesey to stop doing this and go back a month or six weeks.

“Remember things like hand washing and remember you should only go shopping and go out if absolutely necessary.”

Despite noting the recent change in behaviour, Dr Pritchard said people on the island had largely stuck well to lockdown restrictions.

He also highlighted the large amount of concern in the community regarding the outbreak.

He said: “There’s a huge amount of anxiety and everybody of course is talking about it.

“I think people are upset because the people of Anglesey have very much kept to social distancing, they’ve kept to the rules, they’ve done their best and they’re very proud of the fact it was one of the areas where there was the least cases of COVID.

“This breakout in the factory has accounted for more than 50 per cent of the whole cases in 14 weeks within a matter of 10 days and it’s exceedingly worrying.”