Give The Gift of Covid Safety Says East Riding Health Lead

East Riding Council’s public health lead has said a recent fall in coronavirus could mean a tipping point has been reached but warned there were no guarantees it would continue.

East Riding Council’s Public Health Director Andy Kingdom said that despite higher than average cases locally, vaccine rollouts and people continuing to follow guidance could keep the downward trend going.

But he added there were still enough infections in households to spark further increases and called on people to start thinking about how to make Christmas coronavirus safe.

It comes as the number of new coronavirus cases recorded in the East Riding fell from 1,616 between Tuesday, October 26 to Monday, November 1 to 1,437 the following week.

The rolling infection rate dropped from 471 to 419 cases per 100,000 people during the same period.

Mr Kingdom said the rise in coronavirus patients in hospital reflected the increasing infection rates of several weeks ago.

He added that despite East Riding rates being higher than the Yorkshire and Humber and England averages, case numbers were coming down.

Mr Kingdom said:

“The coronavirus position in the East Riding is unusual at the moment for the pandemic but not for the country as a whole, we’re starting to see a tipping point.

“Our infection rates per 100,000 people are higher than Yorkshire and the Humber’s which is 340 and England’s at 337.

“The East Riding as before is the last surfer to catch the waves, we see numbers go up in neighbouring areas first then there’s go down and ours increase.

“If you break the infection figures down into age ranges then what we’re seeing is actually quite complex.

“Cases among secondary school age children, one of the groups we were worried about before, have fallen from rates of 2,400 before half term to around 800 now.

“That’s a really big drop and it’s partly down to half term itself and also the 12 to 15 vaccine roll out.

“And there’s the fact that because so many of them have already been infected, they now have a level of immunity.

“We are expecting numbers to rise among school age children as they begin mixing again, but it won’t be as high as before and will fall more quickly.

“For primary school age children it’s different because we haven’t vaccinated them yet, their case rates are falling as well but not as quickly.

“The unusual thing is that were seeing more cases in households, particularly in more affluent, middle class areas.

“Before they were the best equipped for lockdown because they can generally work from home and distance themselves more easily.

“Now the way infections are spreading is from the schools, kids are bringing coronavirus back into their homes and then it’s getting into communities, not the reverse.

“But the difference is that the lots of the parents of school children, people in their 30s and 40s, are already vaccinated so they’re much less likely to get ill or pass the virus on.

“Cases are also falling among the most old and vulnerable and as the booster jab rollout continues we’ll see infections drop in the 60 pluses as well.

“The downward trend, if it continues, will take a while to work its way through.

“If people wear their masks and distance as best they can then the trend will continue, but there are still enough infections in households to set off another spark if we’re not careful.

“It’s like a game of chess, if the king is the most vulnerable then at the moment our pieces are arranged so we can fend off potential attacks from further coronavirus waves.

“But also like a game of chess if we make a silly move then everything changes.

“And although coronavirus itself is becoming less of an issue in hospitals, they’re still under immense pressure from clearing backlogs, staffing and busy A and Es.

“So as we get into winter I’d ask people to keep on doing the basics that they’ve been doing really well.

“I appreciate that as we approach Christmas it will be harder to distance in public places, so I’d recommend planning ahead for shopping trips and days out.

“Also start having those conversions with your loved ones about how they want to celebrate Christmas.

“Give the gift of safety to them, not the virus.”