How our city could end up in lockdown
AS NEIGHBOURING NOTTINGHAM LOOKS SET TO FOLLOW LEICESTER INTO TIGHTER RESTRICTIONS, DERBY’S HEALTH CHIEF SPEAKS OUT...
PEOPLE in Derby are being urged not to be complacent as neighbouring Nottingham looks set to follow Leicester into a local lockdown.
Latest figures show Nottingham has 497 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people – the fourth worst infection rate in the country – whereas Derby has just 75.
But Derby’s director of public health, Dr Robyn Dewis, said there will be only so much that can be done to stop the virus spreading from one area to the other, with people working in and travelling between both cities. She said: “We cannot afford to be complacent about an infectious disease that is very virulent, which it is showing signs of being currently.”
THERE has been an increase in the number of Covid-19 positive patients at Royal Derby Hospital in the last week as infection rates rise across the county and city.
There are now 32 Covid-19 positive patients at Royal Derby Hospital, up from 13 last week.
The number of patients with the virus at Chesterfield Royal Hospital has also increased, from seven last week to 17 yesterday. There are five patients with the virus at Queen’s Hospital in Burton, down from 12.
At the height of the pandemic, there were around 150 coronavirus patients in Derby, 100 in Burton and 80 in Chesterfield. The number of Covid hospital inpatients remains modest, about a sixth of the total across the three hospitals during the peak of the pandemic in April.
All three hospitals spent much of the summer with a very few Covid inpatients.
Derby and Chesterfield’s marked increase in Covid-19 inpatients reflects the growing number of infections in the community across the county and city. All areas in the county have seen an increase in infections over the last week.
The rates of cases in the High Peak and North East Derbyshire are now double the national average (62) with 128 and 123 cases per 100,000 people respectively, for the period September 28 to October 4.
Both areas have seen notable increases in the rate of infection.
Erewash, which borders Nottingham, has also seen its share of cases rise with 94 infections per 100,000 people, a rate now 50 per cent above the national average.
During that time there have been 887 confirmed Covid-19 cases in Derbyshire, including Derby. The rate of cases across the Derbyshire for September 28 to October 4 is:
All areas in the county have seen an increase in infection rates. With the exception of the Derbyshire Dales, all areas of Derbyshire have rates above the national average.