Recorded cases of coronavirus in Northern Lincolnshire have increased
The increase in coronavirus rates is from very low levels
Covid-19 rates in northern Lincolnshire have climbed significantly but from very low levels.
In the seven days to September 24, North Lincolnshire saw an increase of 80 cases, or 97.6 per cent, compared to the previous week with 162 total cases of coronavirus recorded. North East Lincolnshire had 126 positive tests of coronavirus, up 40 cases, or 46.5 per cent, to the week before.
The increases come as warnings have emerged of a possible new wave of Covid. Professor Lawrence Young, a University of Warwick virologist, warned in the Independent of two Omicron sub-variants that early data suggests may be able to evade the immune system.
“The biggest concern we’re seeing is that in early data these variants are starting to cause a slight increase in infections. In a way, this was to be expected but it does demonstrate that we’re not out of the woods yet at all with this virus, sadly,” Professor Young advised. And The Mirror has also reported that there is a new prevalent symptom of the disease. Zoe Health Study, previously funded by the government between August 2020 and March 2022, found that two-thirds of positive cases now involve a sore throat as one of the symptoms.
In this context, case numbers in northern Lincolnshire have begun to climb again. The case rate per 100,000 people was 79.1 in North East Lincolnshire and 93.8 in North Lincolnshire, in the seven days up to September 24. Within these local authority areas, Great Coates and The Willows had the highest rate of 208.8 per 100,000 people, though this only works out to 12 cases that week. In the same time period, there were no deaths in North or North East Lincolnshire where a person had tested positive for Covid in the previous 28 days.
There are more Covid tests being taken by people too. Between 22 September 2022 and 28 September 2022, there were 1,799 tests taken in North Lincolnshire, an increase 108.5 per cent compared to the previous week. North East Lincolnshire also saw an increase of 26.8 per cent in the number of tests taken over the same time period, with 1,127 tests reported.
While there were 43 hospital patients with coronavirus in Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust on September 28, none were on ventilators. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) modelling, 1.24 per cent of people in North Lincolnshire, North East Lincolnshire, Doncaster and Rotherham, tested positive for Covid in the period of August 30 to September 5. By September 14, the same figure but for the Yorkshire and Humber region was 1.63 per cent.