[ad_1]
Government ministers are meeting today and are expected to decide to place the Liverpool city region on Level 4 of coronavirus restrictions, with local cases now increasing at an alarming rate.
Boris Johnson is meeting with his COVID-O committee, and rising infection rates in the Liverpool city region and other areas currently at Level 3 are expected to be high on the agenda.
Local officials have called for a review of the situation with cases now increasing at an alarming rate.
The latest data shows that in the last week of December, infection rates doubled in most of the city region, even tripling in one district.
The rapid growth of cases has prompted Liverpool leaders to urge the government to implement an urgent national blockade.
This call was repeated yesterday by Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer, with mounting pressure on the government to act.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain today, Health Secretary Matt Hancock did not rule out a lockdown, but seemed to suggest that the first action would be to move areas up.
He said, “At the moment the fastest climbs are in the Level 3 areas and we have shown that if we need to move Level 3 to Level 4 then we will.”
The growth in the infection rate in the Liverpool city region has been rapid and extremely worrying in recent weeks.
The overall infection rate in the Liverpool city region has almost tripled in the last half of December and is now 491 cases per 100,000 people.
This is close to the peak the region reached in October 545 and since these numbers only go as far as New Years Eve, and are not fully complete yet, we are likely there already.
Looking at the individual districts and the picture is even more disturbing.
Halton, Wirral and Sefton have now surpassed the levels they reached at the second peak in the fall.
Halton’s second wave peak was 421.9 and is now 50% higher than 633.7.
Wirral’s fall peak was 306 cases per 100,000, but the municipality has now soared to a rate of 549 cases per 100,000.
Liverpool’s rate has soared to 453 cases per 100,000, while St Helens is slightly behind with 367 cases per 100,000.
It is the speed of increases in our region that will be of greatest concern.
Compared to the previous week, Halton’s infection rate increased by a remarkable 202% in the week through December 31.
Sefton and Knowsley rates grew 155% in the same week, and Wirral saw a 149% increase compared to the previous week.
Liverpool’s cases also grew rapidly, with the city seeing a 113% increase in cases, while the St Helens situation increased by 81%.
In every district in the region except St. Helens, cases doubled during the week and infections tripled in Halton.
It is highly unlikely that this is simply the result of more people getting tested over the Christmas period.
Partly because the increase is after Christmas, so not everyone who gets tested as a precaution before seeing their family on Christmas Day itself will not be included. Furthermore, evidence has not increased at the huge margins in which cases increase.
More importantly, however, positivity rates, which is the total number of positive tests returned out of all tests performed, have increased across the region and in some cases are very high.
These are the latest positivity rates as of December 29, with the previous week in parentheses.
Halton – 16.4% (8%)
Knowsley – 12.4% (6.1%)
Liverpool – 12.8% (6.8%)
St Helens – 12.8% (7.1%)
Sefton – 10.4% (4.1%)
Wirral – 14.1% (6.6%)
This shows that not only are cases doubling in the region, but the proportion of positive tests is also doubling, showing how much more of the virus is circulating.
Speaking on today’s latest figures, Liverpool City Region Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram said it was clear that more restrictions are needed.
He tweeted: “We know there is a 2-3 week lag in the test figures, so this increase is especially concerning, and will not yet include any increases due to mixing over Christmas. Clearly more restrictions are needed and the government must act now, people’s lives depend on it. “
Yesterday, Liverpool Council Acting Leader Wendy Simon and Health Leader Paul Brant urged the government to quickly establish a national blockade.
In a joint statement they said: “It is clear that the country is now at a crossroads with Covid-19.
“The launch of the vaccine has given us all hope that this nightmare will soon be over, but the truth is that the long-awaited return to normal is in a few months.
Use your zip code below to find vaccine locations near where you live
“The stark reality is that today this new virulent strain of the virus is on the rise and we must act now to prevent a crisis that will unleash even more pain and anguish.
“2020 may be over, but the coronavirus is not, and we must heed the lessons of the past year.
That begins with clear and decisive action by our Government that leaves no room for interpretation and gives the public the clarity and confidence to act responsibly.
“We need the government to listen to those on the front line, both in our hospitals and in front line services.
“We as a nation can deal with a lockdown. We’ve done it before and we can do it again. The faster we move to one now, the more lives will be saved and the faster the recovery.”
[ad_2]
