COVID’S SPREAD IN CITY SLOWS
Lockdown update to be given today
CORONAVIRUS cases in Glasgow have slowed slightly according to the latest seven-day period figures. While hundreds of new positive tested cases are still occurring every day, the rise slowed in the second week of the new year.
For the seven days up to January 15 – last Friday – there were 2118 cases recorded, which is lower than the number for the previous week, which was 2470.
The period marks week two of the tougher national lockdown restrictions imposed across Scotland and the “stay at home” message.
The rate of positive cases per 100,000 population, which is a measure used by government officials to set lockdown measures, also dropped slightly, from 390 per 100,000 population to 334.5 per 100,000.
The city is still seeing a high rate – but the decrease follows a big rise that occurred over the Christmas and New Year period.
Glasgow is still significantly higher than the Scottish average per 100,000 of population which is 216 per 100,000 and has the highest rate in the country.
It is followed by North Lanarkshire on 328.7 and Renfrewshire at 299.8.
Only Orkney, Argyll and Bute, Shetland and Moray have a rate that is lower than 100.
In Glasgow there are 43 areas with the highest level, which is above 400 per 100,000 population, shown as the darkest purple on the map.
That is a reduction from the 62 areas the previous week, which was up to January 8, but not as low as the 31 areas in the last week of
2020.
The area that recorded the highest number of positive cases in the week up to January 15 was Cranhill, Lightburn and Queenslie South, with 46 positive cases.
It was followed by Possilpark with 34 cases and Cardonald West and Central and Nitshill, both with 33.
There were 31 cases in Milton West, while Milton East and Penilee both had 30, and Robroyston/ Millerston had 29.
Drumoyne/Shieldhall, Govanhill West and Springburn all had 28 cases.
There were 60 areas where the rate of cases was between 200 and 399 per 100,000, shown as the second darkest purple on the map.
That number is similar to the 58 areas recorded the previous week.
Those areas included Govan with 27 cases, Braidfauld with 25, Toryglen/Oatlands with 25, and Roystonhill, Bailieston East and Parkhead West/Barrowfield, all with 23.
There were another 29 areas where case numbers were lower at between 100 and 199 per 100,000, shown as dark grey on the map.
There were only two areas where the numbers were so low – between zero and two, shown as white on the map – that the virus was considered suppressed in that area at the time.
These were Langside and Central Easterhouse.
Another two had a rate of between 50 and 99 cases. They were Finnieston and Kelvinhaugh and Gallowgate North and Bellgrove, shown as grey on the map.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is today making an announcement on the lockdown period.
She will make a statement to the Scottish Parliament on whether an extended lockdown will be imposed after the Scottish Cabinet met this morning to make a decision.
The First Minister said she would outline “where we are and whether we need to extend the lockdown restrictions to suppress the virus”.
Sturgeon said it was about extending the duration rather than extending the restrictions.
The current restrictions are due to last until January 31 but the First Minister said she would give an update on whether it has to be for longer.
A decision on when to re-open schools is also expected.
Sturgeon revealed the daily statistics which showed a continued rise of the number of people in hospital with Covid-19.
There were 1429 new cases reported, including 451 in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde area.
There were 1959 in hospital, an increase of 41, and there were 146 in intensive care, a decrease of one.
Sturgeon said that the vaccination programme was “rapidly expanding” and that more than a quarter of a million people have now had the first dose.
There have been 264,991 vaccinations carried out.
The First Minister said that all people in priority groups one and two would be vaccinated by the start of February, and all in groups three and four – which is all over-70s and the clinically extremely vulnerable – by the middle of February.
All over-65s are to be vaccinated by the beginning of March.
She said the aim was to vaccinate all over-50s by early May – and then the programme would move on to the rest of the adult population.