Local infection rates at highest level since start of pandemic
30/12/2020
Cherwell describes rise in cases amongst the over 60s and increasing hospital admissions as “particularly concerning”
Northamptonshire and Warwickshire will join Oxfordshire in COVID tier 4 from midnight tonight after the latest official data showed infection rates are continuing to rise in our area.
Figures out today reveal there were 519 new COVID-19 cases identified in the Banbury FM area last week. That is the highest number of weekly infections here since the pandemic began and up 22% on the previous week’s figure.
In Banbury record new infection rates were recorded in Grimsbury (71), Hardwick (60), Ruscote (53) and Easington (48). In total there were 290 confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the town.
In the villages, the Adderbury, Bodicote and Bloxham area recorded 65 new cases, with 32 in Deddington, Steeple Aston and the Heyfords and 25 in Cropredy, Wroxton and Shennington.
Speaking in parliament earlier the Heath Secretary Matt Hancock announced further areas would be moving to tier 4 in the face of rising infection rates. Northamptonshire will move to tier 4 from tier 3 at midnight. In Brackley last week there were 51 new confirmed cases in comparison to 39 the previous week.
In the Cherwell District cases currently stand at 475.7 per 100,000 which is the highest in Oxfordshire. Cases amongst the over 60s are continuing to increase and hospital admissions are rising rapidly as a result which Cherwell describes as “particularly concerning”.
Ansaf Azhar, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Public Health, said: “We have had some good news with the new Oxford vaccine being approved and we know that a number of people in Oxfordshire have now begun the process of being vaccinated. However we cannot allow this to tempt us in to relaxing – we still have tough Winter weeks ahead of us before the vaccines will start to have an impact.
“We know that the new variant of COVID-19 spreads extremely quickly and these rules were applied for our own safety and protection. The numbers of cases across the county have risen very steeply and we have also seen sharp rises in hospital admissions.
“Viruses always thrive in Winter and we can clearly see how aggressively COVID-19 can spread if we let our guard down even marginally. We have seen during 2020 the damage that this virus can do when people are in close contact with each other. The new variant is significantly more transmissible and is becoming the dominant strain across the country – more places have now joined Oxfordshire and our neighbouring areas in Tier 4.
“Unless we all take personal responsibility as individuals and families in the early weeks of 2021, we will create a deeply deteriorating situation in January. This means putting even more pressure on our NHS at its busiest time of year.
“I continue to urge everyone to adhere to the new tier 4 rules and to take every single precaution. We need to protect ourselves, our communities our families and our work colleagues in the coming weeks before the vaccine is widely enough in circulation to begin to have an effect. Please do not let your guard slip.”
Published: by the Banbury FM News Team
