More than 7,900 new cases of coronavirus recorded in Cornwall in seven days
Health officials are urging us to wear masks and get vaccinated to ease pressure on the NHS
There have been almost 8,000 new cases of coronavirus in Cornwall in the last seven days.
The Duchy recorded 7,917 in the week to Saturday 7th April, which is an average of over 1,100 per day and health officials say it is having an impact on our NHS.
As of Friday 1st April, hospitals in Cornwall were treating 186 positive patients and visiting is still suspended at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals' Trust.
Cornwall Council's Public Health Team is urging people to take precautions such as wearing face masks, particularly ahead of the Easter Holidays.
There is also a fresh appeal for people to get vaccinated, as the nationwide roll-out extends to children aged between five and 11.
Iain Davidson is the Clinical Lead for Cornwall's vaccination roll-out and recently told us the fourth-dose boosters will help ease the pressure on our NHS.
Iain said: "Prevalence wise it's really high at the moment and hospital numbers - we've got over 120 patients which is, I think, our highest ever as inpatients within the hospitals.
"It's a difficult time and it's really important for us to get on top of that again and we know that vaccination really is one of the best ways of helping drive down that transmission and driving down rates.
"I think it's just sort of a natural cycle; different parts of the country have peaks at different times. Obviously there's been the removal of some restrictions and we're just going up at the moment but that will level off at some point and start to come down. But as I say, getting these boosters in will just help that happen sooner".
Speaking about the importance of acting now, six months after the start of the first boosters roll-out, Iain added: "The antibody levels from those vaccines are just beginning to wain a bit and this is a particularly at-risk cohort so we're just really keen to bump up that immunity for them. One to stop them getting Covid and stop them getting severely ill but also just to help take the pressure off the NHS and Primary Care at the moment as well".
You can find all the information about Covid vaccinations on NHS Kernow's website.