A COUNCIL has had to reassure residents there is no local spike in coronavirus cases after Matt Hancock named the wrong part of England in several broadcast interviews.
Speaking this morning about the lockdown measures being re-imposed in Leicester, the Health Secretary said that outbreaks in Keighley, West Yorkshire, and Weston-super-Mare had been brought under control.
But it is believed the secretary of state meant to reference another part of West Yorkshire, Kirklees – the local authority which covers the Cleckheaton meat processing factory where an outbreak of Covid-19 sparked 165 positive cases earlier this month.
READ MORE: Leicester goes back into lockdown after spike in Covid-19 cases
Bradford Council, which covers Keighley, tweeted: "Just to calm everyone down a bit ... There's no new Covid-19 spike in Keighley.
"@MattHancock confused Keighley with a different area on TV and radio this morning. Please keep maintaining social distance & washing hands so we don't need to announce a local outbreak in the future."
Just to calm everyone down a bit…
— Bradford Council (@bradfordmdc) June 30, 2020
There's no new COVID-19 spike in Keighley. @MattHancock confused Keighley with a different area on TV and radio this morning.
Please keep maintaining social distance & washing hands so we don’t need to announce a local outbreak in the future.
The Kober plant in Cleckheaton, which is owned by Asda, was closed after the cluster emerged, but has now reopened. That outbreak was confirmed after Hancock told the Downing Street press briefing there had been a localised outbreak in the Kirklees area.
Hancock's incorrect announcement had sparked panic among confused local residents before the council moved to correct the Health Secretary.
Local Green politician Andy Brown tweeted: "I’ve just heard Matt Hancock boast on the radio that they controlled a Leicester style outbreak last week in #Keighley. Local public had absolutely no information about this. So I stood in a queue in Keighley at a DIY store on Saturday with no information about additional risk."
WATCH: Matt Hancock's makes shocking social distancing error
It comes after Boris Johnson mistakenly claimed that Weston-super-Mare had been put into lockdown.
Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions last week, Sir Keir Starmer asked how local lockdowns will be carried out. Johnson said: "Everybody understands and we have seen across the country when there are outbreaks, for instance in Weston-super-Mare or in GP surgeries in North London, there have been local lockdowns and crackdowns."
But Weston-super-Mare councillor Mike Bell said that there was "by no stretch" any kind of local lockdown.
The Weston General Hospital in Somerset temporarily stopped accepting new patients, including to its accident and emergency department, due to a high number of coronavirus cases on May 25, but has now fully reopened.
Earlier this month, Hancock mistakenly referred to the campaigning Manchester United and England footballer Marcus Rashford as Daniel Rashford during a TV interview.
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