City cases 20 times higher than in summer

THE number of new Covid-19 cases in Plymouth is now 20 times higher than in the summer.

The city’s director of public health Ruth Harrell told city councillors the infection rate was just over 30 per 100,000 people, with a seven-day rolling average of just below 100 positive tests.

The director said: “That is of great concern. That is at least 20 times higher than the numbers that we were seeing over the summer.”

Dr Harrell said the infection rate in the city was still just below the regional average, which was below the national figure, and the area was not facing a local lockdown.

She said the South West was still “doing relatively well” but hospital admissions were rising as the virus spread to more vulnerable people.

Dr Harrell said the rate of testing was similar to the summer and there were now far more infections being reported.

She told a meeting of the city’s health and wellbeing board yesterday: “This isn’t artificial, this isn’t being triggered by an issue with testing or anything like that, this is real. If anything, those figures are probably an under-estimate.”

Dr Harrell said despite the increase, the rate of infection in Plymouth was slightly below the South West average, which was “quite considerably” below the national rate.

She added: “So whilst it’s of great concern that the rates are increasing, if we look at us in proportion and in comparison to other areas, we are still doing relatively well down here in the South West.” Cases were starting to put pressure on the NHS, she said. In Plymouth, there were 24 new cases reported on Wednesday, with a total of 1,046 cases since the pandemic began.