"Give Exeter a wide berth" says Yeovil MP

Clown Fysh causes outrage

A south west MP has warned people to stay away from Exeter because of the high rate of covid-19, which is currently largely contained at the city's university.

Marcus Fysh, who represents Yeovil in the House of Commons, says people should stay away from Exeter whilst rates of infection are high. "It does look like university towns around the country are most affected,' he says, confusing Exeter for a town. "While Exeter University is doing a good job, I just think it's wise for the next few weeks to give Exeter a wide berth."

On Monday, Exeter, along with the rest of Devon, and indeed Somerset, was listed a 'tier 1' location in the government's new ranking, meaning the risk of covid is rated 'medium'. No changes to current restrictions have been made.

Exeter MP Ben Bradshaw hit back at the comments: "My Fysh should talk about things he knows about and he clearly doesn't know about very much....There's absolutely no reason for people not to come to Exeter as long as they stick by the rules and the guidance," Mr Bradsahw told BBC Spotlight. Mr Fysh, he said: "knows nothing about Exeter and clearly hasn't bothered to inform himself of the nature of the situation here", as the spike is generally contained amongst students and shared houses "and has no repercussions for the wider community".

Some people do continue to be nervous about coming into the city centre. With the exception of Exeter with 345 cases per 100,000 population, infection rates in the south west are below the national average of 139 people per 100,000.