Message from Solihull’s Director of Public Health, Ruth Tennant
This week has continued to see COVID rates increasing in most parts of the country, including right across the West Midlands and in Solihull – and we need to all take action – now. R – the rate the virus grows by – is now once again over 1.
In Solihull our latest daily rate has climbed to 483 per 100,000 or over a 1,000 new cases a week. This affects the whole borough. This week Knowle is the highest at over 600 per 100k, increasing by 44%.
When schools went back, cases went up in secondary aged pupils and we now also seeing increased cases in younger adults and over-60s. Currently 11% of people getting tested are positive – another rising statistic.
Our local NHS continues to feel the strain. Alongside COVID, other winter viruses are hitting us at a time when GPs and hospital are also getting on top of a backlog of physical and mental health issues from the pandemic.
Although COVID will not have the same devastating impact as last year – because vaccination is working – we continue to hear devastating stories about what the virus can do to people who are not protected. Sickness absence also hits our business and workplaces.
Through the pandemic, our local mantra has been ‘do the right thing’: collective action is what keeps us all safe.
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