Young adults most likely to test positive for Covid

YOUNG adults in Leicestershire were the age group most likely to have tested positive for Covid-19, new figures have revealed.

Government data shows the chances of testing positive for Covid-19 was higher for people between the ages of 20 to 29, than for other age groups in the county.

In the week to December 16, one in every 117 people aged 20 to 24 in Leicester had tested positive for Covid, while one in every 121 people had for those aged 25 to 29.

Charnwood recorded the most likely young positive numbers, with one in every 58 people aged 20 to 24 testing positive - a further one in 89 had Covid in the 25 to 29 age bracket. Similar worrying numbers were also found in Harborough, where one in every 68 people aged 20 to 24 tested positive, while North West Leicestershire and Oadby and Wigston saw a similar rate of one in every 78 testing positive for the same age group.

The spread of the Omicron variant led to a tightening of restrictions earlier this month, meaning young people now had to produce a Covid vaccine passport to gain entry to venues, including nightclubs.

Similar measures have been introduced for those attending football matches.

It comes at a time of increasing worry surrounding the variant, but the government has said no further restrictions.

However, some county health leaders have voiced real concern about the festive period and the potential for more pressure on the NHS.

Speaking last week, Andy Williams, chief executive of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland’s Clinical Commissioning Groups, believed Omicron could make this winter the “toughest period” the service has ever faced.

“When you’ve got a wave like Omicron running across the system, the great concern is it doesn’t just mean that we have more people to care for, but we also have less people to care with because our staff are just as vulnerable as anyone else,” he said.

“As the latest variant sweeps across the system, inevitably the numbers of people in hospital will increase.”

“If you talk to any health professionals at the moment, I think we all have a sense of this being probably the toughest period of time that we’ve ever experienced and we are actively planning for levels of escalation and contingency that we wouldn’t normally get anywhere near.”

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