Alarm over new Covid strain
EXPERTS CALL FOR RETURN OF FACE MASKS TO BATTLE RISING CASES OF ‘CENTAURUS’
NEW government data has highlighted 15 Covid hotspots in Nottinghamshire as experts sound the alarm over a new variant.
The latest sub-strain of the Omicron variant has been named Centaurus, and health experts and virologists across the globe have voiced their concern.
Centaurus, or BA.2.75 variant as it is also known, is rapidly spreading in India as well as making ground in the UK in recent weeks, and is being closely monitored due to its yetunknown potential impact.
Covid rates have increased 25 percent in Nottinghamshire over recent days, but there is a significant gap in the infection figures between different areas of the county.
The case rate per 100,000 people for the seven day period ending on July 8 in the county was 302.9, with 2,524 cases in total.
With cases rising, 15 Nottinghamshire areas have a rate above 400 per 100,000 people, which is slightly above the current national average of 309.4.
In Nottingham city, there were no areas with similarly high rates, and the area had the lowest recorded rates in the county with 207.7, in total registering 700 cases.
The area with the highest rate in Nottinghamshire was Abbott Road and Pleasley Hill, where the infection rate was 742.7.
Here is a rundown of all the areas with the highest rates, and how many cases have been reported:
■ Keyworth North, Tollerton & Willoughby: 501 (29 cases);
■ Ratcliffe Sutton Bonnington & Gotham: 546.1 (32 cases);
■ Edwalton: 404.2 (34 cases);
■ Beeston Ryland: 402.2 (23 cases);
■ Radcliffe on Trent & Shelford: 466.1 (44 cases);
■ East Bridgford: 418.6 (31 cases);
■ Gedling South: 413 (37 cases);
■ Woodthorpe & Arno Vale: 415 (42 cases);
■ Sherwood Vale: 476.3 (37 cases);
■ Ravenshead & Newstead: 573.2 (48 cases);
■ Kirby Larwood & Kingsway: 432.1 (41 cases);
■ Abbott Road & Pleasley Hill: 742.7 (63 cases);
■ Eakring and Ling Forest: 438.9 (29 cases);
■ Manor, Hornby & Peafields: 498.7 (38 cases);
■ Market Warsop: 483.2 (30 cases).
According to the latest statistics published by the Office for National Statistics, one in 25 people in England has Covid-19, compared to one in 160 at the same time last year (one in 18 and rising in Scotland).
Moreover, an estimated 2.7 million across the UK tested positive in the week ending June 29, up a staggering 18 per cent from the previous week, and hospitalisations have risen 33 per cent in a week.
It has led a world leading immunologist to call for face masks to return to stop the spread.
Professor Denis Kinane has also urged people to socialise responsibly this summer. The expert believes there will be a “traditional autumn surge” of cases, and warns that infection rates are quickly approaching the 350,000 a day mark.