‘Very critical point’ as cases surge in city

BRISTOL is at a “very critical point” as coronavirus cases in the city continue to surge, the council has said.

In the past few weeks, coronavirus cases in Bristol have been rapidly rising and more than 2,000 coronavirus infections were recorded in the city in the seven days up to November 8.

Bristol as a whole has a case rate per 100,000 of 471 – the highest in the south of England and higher than Manchester (433.2) and Liverpool (284.5), which both went into Tier 3 lockdowns before the new national lockdown was introduced.

However, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees said last week he didn’t want the city to be place into Tier 3 – the highest tier of coronavirus restrictions – after the lockdown.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said on Friday: “Bristol is now at a very critical point. We need everyone to be extra careful – the virus spreads when people are in close proximity to one another.

“We can all avoid becoming a contact. The virus spreads from person to person.

“Bristol’s rate of 471.0 new cases per 100,000 population in the last 7 days (up to November 8) is higher than for the previous 7 days (383.6 per 100,000).

“The reported rate represents 2,183 positive cases reported for Bristol over the past 7 days within a population of over 463,000 people. The trend has moved sharply upwards and the Bristol rate remains above the England rate of 262.4 per 100,000 and is now ranked 16th among 149 English local authorities.

“This week there are 196 people in our local hospitals (not just Bristol residents) that have tested positive for Covid-19 and our health system is under considerable pressure.

“We can expect to see this trend continue for the next few weeks as any intervention will take some weeks to take effect.

“We continue to monitor the situation closely working with Public Health England, the NHS, Department of Health and Social Care and our neighbouring local authorities.”