Cornwall's public health officials "concerned" over high Covid cases as restrictions ease
Cornwall Council's Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Ruth Goldstein, is urging people to remain cautious
One of Cornwall's top public health officials has admitted they are "concerned" about our coronavirus case numbers as 'Plan B' comes to an end.
Covid passes and face masks are now no longer a legal requirement and more care home restrictions will be eased from Monday.
The lifting of restrictions comes after figures revealed over 100,000 people in the Duchy have tested positive for coronavirus since the pandemic began.
Hospital admissions remain high too. As of Wednesday 26 January, 103 patients with Covid were being treated within the Royal Cornwall Hospitals.
The trust has restricted visitor access to just patients at end of life, maternity, paediatrics and exceptional circumstances.
Bosses say the difficult decision was made to keep people safe.
We spoke to Cornwall Council's Deputy Director of Public Health, Dr Ruth Goldstein, on the morning more restrictions were lifted and asked if it was too soon.
She responded: "We are always, I think, from now on going to have to accept that there will be a level of Covid circulating and that will probably fluctuate as the year goes on.
"I'd like to see it a bit lower than it is, I have to say, because I still think for us it is very high compared to what we're used to but we have to learn to live with it".
Speaking about remaining cautious, Ruth added: "Just because you're not required to do something, doesn't mean that it doesn't make sense, in our situation, to still do it.
"So things like if you're going shopping and you're going to be mixing with lots of people that you wouldn't normally mix with, just put a face mask on. It's a really small price to pay for all the freedoms that we've got now and it will make a huge difference in terms of trying to stop the spread of Covid".
Ruth believes testing is vital: "As you go out and about more into different situations, if everybody did an LFT before they went out, made sure they were negative and then went out, that would also really help with reducing the transmission.
"We are still concerned, I have to say. In Cornwall, I don't think it's coming down as quickly as we'd really like to see it coming down with the reduced restrictions".
Dr Goldstein is also urging people to take up their coronavirus vaccinations and boosters, saying it is one of the ways to help to control the spread of the Omicron variant.