Covid-19 outbreak in Telford leads to local lockdown warning
An outbreak of Covid-19 cases in Telford has led to an urgent warning to avoid a local lockdown.
Telford & Wrekin Council said at least 24 cases had been reported in the seven days up to Sunday.
Twelve people tested positive last Wednesday alone, the latest Government figures show, however this remains lower than the 20 positive tests recorded on one day during the peak of the crisis.
When the seven days to Friday are looked at, 26 cases were recorded in the borough giving a rate of infection nearly seven times higher than the previous week.
Latest rates of infection in the region:
Average number of new cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to August 14.
Figures show the rate for the seven days to August 14 followed by the equivalent figure for the previous seven days to August 7.
The number of brackets is the number of new cases confirmed in each area.
Data for the most recent three days (August 15-17) has been excluded as it is incomplete and likely to be revised.
Birmingham 31.5 (360), 18.2 (208)
Sandwell 25.3 (83), 22.2 (73)
Wolverhampton 17.1 (45), 11.4 (30)
Walsall 15.4 (44), 7.0 (20)
Telford and Wrekin 14.5 (26), 2.8 (5)
Cheshire East 9.1 (35), 7.0 (27)
Shropshire 5.6 (18), 1.5 (5)
Dudley 4.0 (13), 5.3 (17)
Cheshire West and Chester 3.8 (13), 6.1 (21)
Cannock Chase 3.0 (3), 4.0 (4)
Stafford 2.2 (3), 5.8 (8)
The rate in the seven days to Friday was 14.5 cases per 100,000 people compared to 2.8 cases the week before when only five people tested positive.
The sudden rise has seen the council issue a plea to the public in an effort to avoid the introduction of strict lockdown measures as seen in other parts of the country such as Leicester.
Despite the sharp increase, the infection rate in Telford remains lower than nearby Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Walsall and Sandwell but higher than Shropshire which had a rate of 5.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to Friday.
Birmingham has also seen a sharp increase in cases in recent days with its rate increasing from 18.2 cases per 100,000 residents to 31.5.
'Critical to isolate'
Telford & Wrekin Council's director of Public Health Liz Noakes has released a direct appeal to the people of the borough, asking them to "help avoid a local lockdown.”
The council's latest official weekly figure for the number of coronavirus cases will be released on Thursday, but the increase has prompted Ms Noakes’ call to the public to act now
She said: “We have seen an increase in Covid cases within the borough over the last week.
More Covid-19 coverage:
“While we can connect some of these cases together, we cannot connect them all.
“It is critical that, if you have symptoms, you isolate, dial 119 and get tested.
“If you are contacted by NHS Test and Trace or the council’s Health Protection team and you are a direct contact, you should isolate for 14 days. This is how we will contain any outbreak.
“To stop the spread in the wider community, we must all keep two metres apart, wash our hands regularly for at least 20 seconds and wear a facemask. You need to do all these things when you go out to work and in your free time.
“Keep your contacts to a minimum. If you socialise indoors, then socialise with only one other household.
“We must all play our part to stop the spread and avoid a local lockdown.”
Telford has had far fewer coronavirus cases than the neighbouring Shropshire Council area since the pandemic began.
So far 664 people have tested positive in Telford & Wrekin giving an overall number of cases of of 369.2 per 100,000 people.
In Shropshire 1,469 people have tested positive making a rate of 454.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Meanwhile Shropshire Council has said pubs will be getting extra visits from health officials over the coming weeks to make sure they are complying with Covid guidelines.
