Wiltshire's Public Health chief concerned about Covid case rise
We find out on Thursday (26th November) what tier the county will be put in.
Last updated 24th Nov 2020
Kate Blackburn, Director of Public Health Wiltshire, says she is a bit concerned about the rise in Covid-19 cases in the county.
She is particularly worried about an increase in the over 60s age group.
In the seven days to November 18th, there were 674 positive cases recorded, a rise of 145 from the previous week.
Meanwhile, the seven day rolling case rate has also increased to 134.8 per 100,000 people from 105.8.
These are still well below the national average, but Kate says she still has some cause for concern:
"What we saw with our cases was there being a plateauing in the first two weeks of November and end of October after seeing a steep rise throughout the middle of October and what we're seeing at the moment is our rates are rising again in Wiltshire. They're still lower than the South West and England rates but they are rising.
We've still got our highest rates in the 15-24 age group but then it's pretty much spread across all ages and it's still rising in our 60 and overs which, as I've said before, is the group that gives me most cause for concern because we know that's where more serious illness can occur. Again, we have one of the lower rates in the south west of positive cases in the 60 plus age range but for me, that's still a concern locally."
SCHOOL FIGURES
There has also been a rise in the number of schools in Wiltshire with Covid -19 cases.
Latest figures show there are 51 education settings with at least one positive case, up from 44 when the Council last released data.
Across the local authority there are 4,135 pupils self isolating and 189 staff.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER LOCKDOWN?
Yesterday (Monday 23rd November), the Prime Minister confirmed that the country would come out of lockdown on December 2nd.
They will then re-implement the tiered structure, with areas being placed into a medium, high or very high level.
These tiers then have different restrictions going up in severity:
Medium alert level
Kate Blackburn is unsure what tier Wiltshire will be placed in and they will be told on Thursday by the government what level they are at.
Details surrounding Christmas are still being ironed out by Boris Johnson, with many people hoping households may be able to mix for the festive period.
But Kate says she is "airing on the side of caution" on that topic:
"I would be advising a cautionary approach to Christmas, the virus doesn't understand that it's Christmas, us like it doesn't understand whether you live in Wiltshire or Swindon and we know that the way the virus spreads it increases with the more people you see outside of your household, the greater length of time spent indoors with other people and so I think I would be advising people to still very much follow the guidance.
It is really important for families to be together at all times of the year, I appreciate Christmas is different and is special for a lot of people but family is always really special and there's lot of ways we can be together even if it may not be the perfect way at the moment, I think what we would most like to do is protect our families."
For more Coronavirus advice, visit gov.uk/coronavirus.