Forth Valley sees Covid cases fall

Health board no longer tops the table

As the region marks the one-year milestone of lockdown, the local fightback against the virus is continuing apace.

The latest data from Public Health Scotland has revealed a recovery in the position across Forth Valley, with the health board area registering 76.3 cases per 100,000.

This meant that Forth Valley now sits as the fifth-highest health board area in average case numbers, compared to its status as the highest in the country for the previous week up to March 12.

As a result of the wider picture, the three local authority areas within Forth Valley have also reported major numbers, with Falkirk the only one to feature in the top ten.

Stirling now comes in fifteenth position with case rates at 66.9 per 100,000 - marking a major recovery from the position last week, when it was the country’s Covid-19 hotspot after registering 142.2 cases per 100,000.

The improving picture has also led to further progress in the numbers in hospital and in intensive care units here with the virus.

A total of 27 patients are currently at hospitals in the Forth Valley area, with five patients being treated in ICU.

The new figures were welcomed by one of the region’s top health officials - but he warned about the need to stay the course to maintain the improvement locally.

NHS Forth Valley’s director of public health, Dr Graham Foster, said: “We are pleased that the Covid-19 rates have fallen significantly across Forth Valley over the last week and the number of patients in local hospitals with Covid-19 also continues to reduce.

“This is down to a number of public health measures including rapid targeted testing where local outbreaks have occurred, the introduction of new local testing centres for people who don’t have any symptoms of the virus and the ongoing roll out of the Covid-19 vaccination programme.

“The rates of Covid-19 infections locally remained stubbornly high through February and, although this reduction is good news, there is no room for complacency. It is very important that we all continue to stick to the rules to ensure we don’t experience a resurgence in cases.

“The virus is still out there and we are currently seeing around 30– 40 new positive cases confirmed in Forth Valley every day so it’s vital to remain vigilant to help avoid giving the virus a chance to spread.

“We have responded to a number of local outbreaks in recent weeks so the virus has not gone away and most local cases are of the new variant which is more infectious, especially indoors.

“As we perhaps start to go out more it is still vital to keep following the FACTS advice such as staying two metres apart and wearing a face covering as much as you can.”

One of the areas of concern still remaining is the state of case numbers in Fallin, with a whopping rate of 981.8 cases per 100,000 in the period up to March 19.

However, an NHS Forth Valley spokeswoman said the high levels in the village owed to increased testing following an outbreak of cases linked to Fallin Primary and Nursery, which was closed last week for remote learning.

The spokeswoman also confirmed hopes that the impact of the testing would reduce over the next week to ten days, with average case figures reporting on a rolling week-long average.