Coronavirus UK
© Julian Hamilton/Daily MirrorCoronavirus rates in Oldham have prompted a local lockdown
A professor has claimed that 91% of neighbourhoods in England haven't recorded a coronavirus case in four weeks.

John Clancy said that he believes lockdowns cause non-coronavirus deaths as well, arguing that putting local areas into lockdown 'just in case' was an unacceptable response to "dodgy data".

The professor hit out at testing procedures in the UK, saying the system is in 'total chaos'.

And he hit back as fears mount over a local lockdown in Birmingham.

In an article titled 'Local lockdown lunacy: Putting Birmingham into lockdown would be ridiculous' posted on August 21, he argued that 87% of Birmingham's 132 neighbourhoods did not record a single tested positive case of Covid-19 in the last week.

In the blog, Professor Clancy said: "91 per cent of England (that's 51million people) live in neighbourhoods where there hasn't been a recorded Covid-19 case in the last 4 weeks."

He added: "So-called 'spikes' are occurring here, there, and everywhere up and down the country because new testing regimes are causing them either with false positives, picking up residual infections or (usually more likely) suddenly increased testing in specific areas.


Comment: Lasting immunity seen after mild COVID-19 infection


"'Just in case' lockdowns are simply not an acceptable response to dodgy data. And lockdowns cause deaths."

Birmingham's residents have been warned they could face new coronavirus rules if the city fails to halt a spike in cases.

City council leader Ian Ward issued the gloomy warning after the infection rate more than doubled in the first 12 days of the month.

Mr Ward said while there are no restrictions planned at the moment, that could change if cases continue to go up.

But Professor Clancy said "when you are dealing with such low (and unreliable) numbers small changes might seem to become spikes."

He said he has reported detail of UK neighbourhoods' experience of coronavirus over the last five months and said "716,000 Brummies live in a neighbourhood where there were no positive tests in the last week."

He also said that the most reliable data in a pandemic are deaths rather than tests.