56 asylum seekers test positive in ‘significant’ Covid-19 outbreak in Birmingham

Council leader Ian Ward, speaking at a West Midlands Combined Authority briefing, confirmed that several residents at the Stone Road hostel in Edgbaston had contracted Covid-19 during the past few weeks.

And he added that the council are now working with the Home Office and Public Health England, among others, to ensure the safety of residents and staff at the facility. It has been reported that the hostel has been closed.

Last week Councillor Ward announced that Birmingham would not be accepting any more asylum seekers while the city remained on the government’s national watchlist, though he also raised concerns about the conditions that many asylum seekers were being housed in in the city, particularly at the Stone Road facility.

And he revealed that 56 residents at the facility had been confirmed Covid-positive, with all of those with the virus moved to another location.

"Fifty-six is the number that I have for the number of residents at the Stone Road asylum centre that have tested positive," he said.

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"The city council is now working very closely with Public Health England, the Home Office, SERCO, the Home Office’s contractor, and Urban Housing the sub-contractor of SERCO, to implement appropriate measures to ensure the safety of residents, staff and the wider community.

"Those residents that have tested positive at the Stone Road facility have now been moved to alternative accommodation where they can safely self-isolate and socially distance, and be better supported.

"Contact tracing is now also underway, and is being carried out in the relevant languages of affected residents."

During the meeting it was also revealed that the rate of infection in Birmingham has now risen above 30 for the first time since the city was placed onto the national watchlist, prompting fears of a local lockdown.

However Councillor Ward said that this was not being considered at the moment, adding that he expected the measures being introduced by the council to work in halting the virus.

"We’re continuing to monitor the situation very very closely, and we remain an area of enhanced support," he said.

"We are using the measures that are now available to us, particularly around direction orders, to keep on top of the virus numbers. There are no plans at the moment for a lockdown, either of the city or of any part of the city.

"Indeed I remain sceptical that you could apply a lockdown to part of the city, because I think then the messaging would become so confused that we’d run the risk of people stopping listening to all of the advice completely.

"So we’re not going down that route at the moment, and our discussions with government this week indicate that the government continue to be confident that the measures we are taking will get us back on top of these numbers."