Coronavirus: Local health leaders call on people to not mix households

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Telford and Wrekin shows that cases are continuing to fall, the latest weekly figures show.

But there are early signs that the number of cases have plateaued since 3 December.

With a potential third wave expected in January, local health leaders are urging people not to mix households, and to do all they can to accelerate the decline ahead of Christmas when government restrictions will be eased to allow people to mix within 3 households for a 5-day period.

For the week ending 6 December, the situation in the borough is 205 people have been diagnosed with Covid-19. The seven day infection rate for Telford and Wrekin is 114 confirmed cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 of population.

Infection rates in the over 60s in Telford and Wrekin, a higher risk group, are at 86 per 100k of population, while for those age 80 and over are at 137 per 100k of population - an even greater concern.

Two people from the borough have died from Covid-19 in the past week - bringing the total borough deaths to 128.

Telford & Wrekin Council’s Director for Public Health Liz Noakes said: “It’s great to see our cases continuing to fall in advance of Christmas, but in the past few days we have seen early signs of our numbers beginning to plateau.

“We are also seeing cases in our over 60s beginning to plateau, with hospital admissions creeping up in the last few days.

“Our current number of cases is similar to where we were back in October and it took us just 3-4 weeks to hit our peak – if we relax on the rules now then we may see big rises very quickly.

“We need to accelerate our decline before the Christmas period so we are in a much better position to deal with any potential third wave in January.

“The main thing we can do to help keep our numbers down is to continue to not mix households – this is key.

“We also have a responsibility not to spread the virus onto our loved ones during this time, and to keep our cases low for our NHS workers, Care workers and other key workers.

“For the love of Christmas - self-isolate and get tested when you need to, please do not socialise indoors, you can meet outdoors but you must not meet in groups of more than six, wash your hands, wear a face covering and maintain social distancing.”

Andy Burford, Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care, said: “We are still under tier 2 restrictions here in Telford and Wrekin, the only way to end that is by continuing to follow the rules and acting responsibly.  

“Coronavirus vaccinations have begun in the country and in our borough, but we still have a long way to go – we must continue to do all we can to prevent the spread of the virus. 

“We are only reducing our numbers now thanks to the great sacrifices that our residents have made.

“Please reduce your contacts with others where you can, and remember that you cannot mix socially indoors.

“We all need to dig deep now in the run up to Christmas to get our numbers as low as possible – we can only do this if the whole of the borough plays their part."