Second wave 'inevitable': Sheffield councillor's warning after shocking scenes in parks

Huge crowds have been seen in Endcliffe Park, where neighbouring residents have complained of loud music, drug dealing and piles of litter being left behind.

Angela Argenzio, Green Party councillor for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale, fears these gatherings, where many have flouted the two-metre social distancing guidance, could lead to a new spike in Covid-19 cases.

UK could have first local lockdown after huge spike of coronavirus cases

She claims too many people not just in Sheffield but across the UK have ‘forgotten their sense of civic duty’ and grown blind to the threat the disease continues to pose to the nation’s health.

And she believes the country could learn from Italy, where her parents live, about how to manage the spread of the deadly virus.

“Because we’re not talking so much about the number of cases here any more, I feel people have forgotten that more than 100 people are still dying in this country every day,” she said.

‘A lovely lad’: Tributes paid to loving father found stabbed to death in street

“You might be a healthy person but it’s not about you, it’s about other people who are at greater risk. In France, Italy and Spain, where masks are compulsory, people are wearing them not for their own protection but to safeguard others.

“People in this country seem to have forgotten that sense of civic duty,” she said.

“I feel really anxious about a second wave here, which is inevitable because it’s happened in other countries like China, where they’ve had flare-ups despite much stricter lockdowns than us.”

Man rushed to hospital after being stabbed in Sheffield city centre

Coun Argenzio says that in Italy there is more localised data about new cases, including how many people have been tested and admitted to hospital where you live, which she believes helps keep the virus and the importance of taking precautions in everybody’s minds.

She believes similar data should be made available here and says this is something many regional health chiefs have been pushing the Government to provide.

As for what can be done to tackle anti-social behaviour in Sheffield’s parks, where a combination of increased patrols and poorer weather appears to have helped over the weekend, she says this is a difficult problem but more signs reminding people of the danger might help.