Virus ‘hasn’t gone away’as rates rise across region
ALTHOUGH it is now not possible to get a free Covid-19 test for most of us, health experts continue to warn that the virus has “not gone away”.
This is borne out in the North East, as the latest data shows one borough now has a rate of more than 1,000 positive cases per 100,000 people. That’s according to data for the week to March 26 – so before free testing was phased out.
The worst-hit area is North Tyneside, but on a more local level more than 80% of places saw cases increase over those seven days. One, Windy Nook & Whitehills in Gateshead, saw cases almost treble – there were 43 – and this shows how quickly the picture can change as just a week earlier that was the place with the lowest Covid rate in our region.
When it comes to the areas where you’re most likely to have Covid, the worst places are still Darras Hall, Stamfordham & Heddon and Low Fell West. Gosforth, Whitley Bay and Morpeth are also within the top 10.
This comes after the infection prevention supremo Dr Lucia Parejacebrian, from the Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust, warned: “Covid hasn’t really gone away. We know prevalence in the community has gone up. But we know that the severity of
illness in patients who are admitted to hospital is much less than previous waves.”
There were 96 patients with Covid in hospital on Thursday in the city. In North Tyneside, the Covid rate passed 1,000 for the first time since January on March
26. It hit 1,023.6 after the week before saw 2,138 cases. That means there’s more than a one in 100 chance of someone having tested positive for Covid in that period and, worryingly, the speed at which new cases are rising increased. Northumberland
is not far behind, with a rate of 963.8. Cases have risen 21.6%, week-onweek and that accounts for 3,121 positives.
In Gateshead the rate is now 822 – reflecting a 32.6% rise in cases to 1,660 – while Sunderland saw 2,255 new cases to make a rate of 811.6 per 100,000 people. There were again 4,229 new cases over the week in County Durham. That’s a rise of 25.2% and gives the county a rate of 793.2. And in Newcastle the rate increased slightly less – after 2,311 new cases (up 17.4%) it is now 753.2. South Tyneside had the biggest increase in cases (47.6%) after 1,120 over seven days.