Caerphilly: A year on from local lockdown

The borough was given 24 hours’ notice of the lockdown, which was announced at 6pm on Monday, September 7, 2020 and that it would come into effect at 6pm on Tuesday, September 8, 2020.

At this point, Caerphilly had the highest rates of Covid in Wales with the case rate on the day standing at 55.4 per 100,000 population. Here we look back at what happened to start the lockdown, during the lockdown and how the borough has faired since.

However, the rolling seven-day case rate for the week up to September 6 was 95.0 per 100,000 people. Which was far higher than Merthyr Tydfil – who would follow the borough into local lockdown shortly after – who stood at 53.0 per 100,000 people.

The new rules that were announced for the lockdown meant that no-one was allowed to enter or leave the Caerphilly county borough without a reasonable excuse – which could include travelling for work, education or medical appointments.

Everyone over the age of 11 were required to wear face masks in shops and a ban was put in place to stop people meeting indoors. This included the extended households.

Overnight stays were not allowed, and meeting others was only allowed outside.

There were no plans to have road blocks in place on the borough’s borders to check the restrictions were being adhered to, however, officers were completing roadside vehicle checks and CCBC inspectors were visiting supermarkets and other premises to ensure that rules were being followed.

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When it was announced, the Welsh Government said that the lockdown would be kept under regular review, but the government would consider further measures if the case rates did not fall.

At the time, then health minister Vaughan Gething, said: “We have seen a significant rise in cases in Caerphilly borough over a very short space of time, which are linked to holiday travel abroad and people socialising indoors and not following social distancing guidelines.

“A lot of these cases are in the younger people and thankfully, at the moment, most of these are mild. But coronavirus is now circulating in the community and it’s only a matter of time before we start to see more serious cases, which need hospital treatment.”

Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council, Cllr Philippa Marsden, also said at the time: “We need to create a break in the cycle of infection we are seeing in Caerphilly borough at the moment, and unfortunately that means introducing new, tougher restrictions.

“I would urge everyone living in the area to follow these new measures; to follow the social distancing guidelines and to wash their hands regularly. If we all work together, we can bring this outbreak under control and reduce cases of the virus.”

During the local lockdown period, pubs and restaurants were still allowed to open, with tighter restrictions on who was able to sit together.

The week from September 7-13 last year saw an increase in cases with 118.7 per 100,000 people. The first sign of cases decreasing came in the period of September 14-20 when the case rate was more than halved at 67.4 per 100,000. As many areas of Wales were seeing increases during this time, it was some evidence that the local lockdowns could be effective.

Case rates in the borough continued to drop the following week and placed Caerphilly behind 10 other local authorities in Wales for the number of cases. On September 23, First Minister Mark Drakeford said that the signs were encouraging as cases were dropping in the borough.

He said: "It will be because of the efforts that people in Caerphilly have made to stick to the rules and the conditions we have had to place on them.

"I was cheered up last week by a conversation I had with a senior police officer who is responsible for Caerphilly.

"They said that in the police's experience, people in Caerphilly were not only abiding by the regulations, but were keen to make their contribution.

"They wanted to do the right thing because they believed that in that way, the period in which they lived with the restrictions would be lessened.

"I am very grateful indeed for all the efforts that people are making."

On September 30, then education minister Kirsty Williams said there was hope that restrictions could be eased – as case rates lowering in Caerphilly and Newport – which had also been placed under local lockdown – showed.

She said: "There is hope. Numbers in Caerphilly and Newport – which were some of the local areas which were first subject to local restrictions – case numbers are dropping, and if we work together in those communities to follow the new rules, we can lift those restrictions as quickly as possible."

The Caerphilly lockdown however, was not lifted as a month later, restrictions were still in place, but after a period of reduction, cases were beginning to increase with the rate rising to 66.3 per 100,000 people in the rolling seven-days up to October 4. The following seven days saw the rate double to 128.7 per 100,000, however, at this point Wales was in the second wave and Caerphilly’s case rate was the 11th highest in Wales.

Mr Gething said although the numbers were still high, there were signs to show the curve was flattening in the borough.

"While still in early days, there are some grounds for cautious optimism," he said.

"We've seen a small fall in both the seven-day rate in new cases and the positivity rate, although these do remain high.”

On October 21, while the borough remained in lockdown, a new testing centre opened in Caerphilly. Two days later, on October 23, Wales entered a firebreak lockdown that lasted until Monday, November 9.

Case rates in Caerphilly through November and December remained high and Caerphilly settled into the fifth place for highest case rates in Wales. The position would vary between fifth and eighth out of the 22 local authorities.

On December 19, Wales entered another national lockdown. This came as Caerphilly had been in some form of lockdown for three months.

Case rates across December and into January would move Caerphilly to mid-table for case rates and it took until February 1-7 for the borough to see a case rate below 100 for the first time since the local lockdown was put in place.

A milestone was achieved in March as the borough recorded less than 100 new cases in a week for the first time since August 2020.

Cases continued to decrease in Caerphilly borough throughout March and April. There were slight increases during the end of April and into early May, however, the borough remained low down on the local authorities list.

The figures for the period of May 31-June 6 saw just five new cases of Covid recorded in the borough and a rolling rate of 2.8. This placed Caerphilly as the local authority in Wales with the lowest case rates – and also one of the lowest rates in the UK.

The decrease in cases is attributed to the various lockdown measures in place since the September 8 local lockdown – including the public’s response and adherence to the rules.

The borough has also been very proactive in receiving the vaccine, with the latest figures showing that 87 per cent of over 18s in the borough had received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccination up to August 29.

96 per cent of the over 80s and the 65-69 age groups in the borough had received their two jabs, while 97 per cent of those aged between 70 and 79 were given both jabs.

95 per cent of those aged 60-64, 93 per cent of those aged 55 to 59 and 91 per cent of 50–54-year-olds have also received both doses.

People aged 40-49 who received both doses were at 86 per cent of those in the borough, while 78 per cent of 30-39-year-olds and 73 per cent of 18-29-year-olds have also received both doses up to August 29.

However, almost a year on from the local lockdown, cases in Caerphilly borough have risen again. In the rolling case rates for the period of August 16-22, 2021, Caerphilly’s case rate was 269.5 per 100,000 population.

It rose again to 384.9 per 100,000 for the week of August 23-29 and to 566.6 per 100,000 for the week of August 30-September 5. In this particular week, Caerphilly recorded 1,026 cases, the fifth highest in Wales.

Exactly a year on from the announcement of the lockdown – in the data given by Public Health Wales on September 7, 2021, Caerphilly recorded 171 new cases in one day, the fifth highest in Wales. 

The increase in figures comes amid an increase of cases across all of Wales.