Health chief appeals for caution as virus spreads
A leading public health expert warned that the coronavirus pandemic was not over as Bath recorded its highest number of daily Covid cases just days before lockdown ended.
Rebecca Reynolds, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s director of public health, said that cases were “continuing to rise rapidly” across the area.
She stressed the need for people in the area to remain cautious after the relaxation of rules on Monday (July 19).
Last Thursday, Bath and North East Somerset recorded 227 cases of coronavirus in the latest 24 hour period, the highest daily increase the area has seen since the pandemic began in March last year.
The previous daily high was 158 cases in January, when the country was in the middle of the third national lockdown.
Ms Reynolds said that the vaccination programme had been “tremendously successful” in Bath and North East Somerset, with 80 per cent of adults over the age of 18 having had their first jab and 57 per cent now double vaccinated.
She said: “Our communities and our lives have all been so hugely affected over the past 16 months by coronavirus itself and by the restrictions in place to control it.
“Largely due to the tremendous success of the vaccination programme, from 19 July most restrictions will be lifted as we move into the next phase of learning to live with the virus.
“This phase will allow much more social mixing, which I’m sure most of us will all look forward to.
“However, we need to move cautiously as the pandemic is not over and, in common with most other parts of the country, rates are continuing to rise rapidly in B&NES.
“We know that having the jab is hugely effective at reducing the chance of getting the virus in the first place, getting ill with it, and getting so ill that we need to be admitted to hospital, so I do encourage us all to get double jabbed.”
Ms Reynolds said it was “good” that the vaccines appear to have weakened the link between the virus and severe disease but warned that long Covid could affect young people in particular.
Ms Reynolds said: “It’s such good news that the link between the virus and severe disease and death has been severely weakened by the vaccination programme.
“Long Covid is something we are learning more about though over time, and as Chris Whitty (Chief Medical Officer for England) recently warned, rates of long Covid are likely to increase significantly and could affect younger groups in particular due to the lower vaccination rates as the vaccination programme has only more recently become available to them.
“Long Covid can have a serious effect on daily life, so avoiding getting the virus in the first place where possible is also important.
“As restrictions are lifted, let’s also remember that many people who aren’t able to receive a vaccine due to their health condition, or for whom the vaccine doesn’t work, will be anxious.
“We can all help protect each other and ourselves by getting double jabbed; getting tested if we have symptoms and self-isolating if the test is positive; taking rapid tests regularly; continuing to clean our hands regularly; wearing a face covering in crowded areas; having good ventilation in buildings - and, better still, meeting outdoors where possible.
“All this helps each of us reduce the risk to ourselves and others.”