the number of people over 60 needing hospital care for covid has started to accelerate in recent weeks. this is serious. it is getting out of control, and we have to do something to bring it back under control. we definitely need to work locally, and we definitely need to make sure that the communications are much clearer. in nottingham, new cases have shot up. two weeks ago, it was below the national average. in the week up to monday, there were 689 cases per 100,000 population. local leaders have pleaded for people not to mix this weekend, and are calling on the government for urgent action. district council leaders have agreed that we should put out this message, but it has not got the power that a government restriction would have, and so it leaves nottingham just hanging, really. the virus has increased rapidly in recent weeks. the latest estimates from the office for national statistics suggests one in 240 people in the community have covid in england, double the number for the last two weeks,