Health bosses say people in Notts can be ‘very confident’ about progress through Covid roadmap
HEALTH bosses in Nottinghamshire say the current Covid-19 picture is “positive overall”.
Speaking at the weekly Public Health briefing, current concerns and areas of optimism were discussed.
The picture for Covid cases and rates continues to improve for Nottinghamshire overall, despite some areas of concern, such as Mansfield.
The vaccination rollout is also progressing well, 735,000 people now having had at least one dose, and more than 85 percent of the over-70s having had two doses.
The rollout is next moving into the under-40s although a date has not been determined, but there is an expectation for all first doses to be completed by the end of July.
Absence levels in schools due to Covid-19 are now lower than the end of last term, with just under one percent of absences in the county linked to the virus.
David Johns, interim director of public health for Nottingham city confirmed the rate for the city was at 24 per 100,000.
“This is a better position from last week, with 60 and over age band rates remaining low and no care home outbreaks,” he said.
Addressing concerns on new strains of Covid-19 particularly the India variant, Mr Johns said: “We are prepared locally and have tested our plans.”
When asked in the briefing if there were any cases of the India variant in Nottingham currently, he said they had “not received official notification of a change from a variant under investigation to a variant of concern”.
“We haven’t had to [respond to a case from Public Health] to date, thankfully,” he added.
“I appreciate the concern around new variants but it’s important to put that into context that there’s not currently any evidence that the variant causes more severe illness, or that it escapes the natural or vaccine-acquired immunity to Covid-19.”
Jonathan Gribbin, public health director for Nottinghamshire said: “I’m very pleased to say the picture across Nottinghamshire county is similar to last week, so that means that it is a positive picture overall.
“There was just one active outbreak reported in all of our care homes across the county - a fabulous improvement on where we were at a couple of months ago.”
Mr Gribbin went on to discuss rates where nationally, it is recorded at 22 cases per 100,000, regionally in the East Midlands it is 23 and in Nottinghamshire, it is currently 18.
“But of course we do see some variation, so in Mansfield, that’s still the district with the highest rates and as of today, it’s 36.6 per 100,000.
“In Bassetlaw, we’re really pleased to see the rate there has come down and that now stands at 23.8 per 100,000.
“Most other districts have rates in the teens, so overall it’s a positive position and people in Nottinghamshire can feel very confident about the prospects for moving through the roadmap.”
Both public health bosses emphasised the messages around sticking to guidelines as a priority, going for regular testing even without symptoms and vaccinations for those eligible.
On the return of holidays, Mr Johns said: “Everyone is looking forward to an opportunity to travel when it becomes an option.
“My focus will be on supporting anyone who does travel to meet recommendations and when they return, in doing so, they are in doing it in a way that protects Nottingham city.”
Mr Gribbin added: “I’m looking forward to taking a holiday this year and I imagine there must be hundreds and thousands of people across Nottinghamshire who are feeling the same way, some looking to go abroad, some in places around the UK.”