Please remain Covid-cautious, say interim Public Health Directors

Northamptonshire’s interim Directors of Public Health are urging everyone to stay vigilant

'Remain ‘COVID-cautious’ in your daily lives as infections are on the rise once again,' - that’s the message from Northamptonshire’s interim Directors of Public Health as a further 5,300 residents test positive.

As numbers go up by 51% this week, Public Health officials locally are reiterating current Government guidance in a bid to reduce the risk of catching and passing on COVID-19 by encouraging residents to:

• Get vaccinated
• Let fresh air in if meeting indoors, or meeting outside
• Wear a face covering in crowded and enclosed spaces, especially where you come into contact with people you do not usually meet, when rates of transmission are high
• Try to stay at home if you are unwell
• Take a test if you have COVID-19 symptoms, and staying at home and avoiding contact with other people if you test positive
• Wash your hands and following advice to ‘Catch it, Bin it, Kill it.’

Also, while there is no longer a legal requirement for people with coronavirus (COVID-19) infection to self-isolate, if you have any of the main symptoms or a positive test result, the local and national public health advice is to stay at home and avoid contact with other people.

With COVID-19 still in circulation it’s vitally important that we do what we can to protect ourselves and those around us. This week’s rates are clear evidence that the pandemic has not ended. Let's all stay COVID cautious and keep looking out for one another.

We are encouraging people in our community to get their lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, including boosters, practise good hand hygiene and to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if you have any of the main symptoms of COVID-19 or have tested positive. All this helps reduce the chance of passing COVID-19 on to others.

The rising case rates over recent weeks and particularly this week at 51%, are an important reminder that, although legal restrictions have ended, COVID-19 has not gone away.

We urge people to remain cautious in their day to day lives and to get vaccinated and have the booster or fourth dose when invited.

Employers can also help by promoting ventilation, facilitating outdoor or well-spaced working areas, encouraging the use of face coverings, and supporting sick staff to stay at home.Sally Burns and John Ashton - Interim Directors of Public Health for West and North Northamptonshire Councils

To book a booster or fourth dose, those who are eligible should visit the NHS website or call 119.

Alternatively, people can visit a local drop-in clinic

Covid-19 in the county this week

An analysis of the county’s recent coronavirus cases and rates over the period 7 - 13 March 2022, shows:

• 5,300 residents tested positive for COVID-19 this week. Of this number, 586 were reinfection cases. Last week’s number was 3,486 with 369 reinfection cases. 
• Northamptonshire’s infection rate per 100,000 population is 607.1 – up from last’ week’s number of 389.2 and significantly higher than the national average of 544.6. West Northamptonshire’s rate per 100,000 population is 626.3.
• The highest rates locally are South Northamptonshire (731.3) and Kettering (653.4)
• 11 people died in Northamptonshire within 28 days of a positive test, an increase from last week.
• More women than men tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 28 days.
• The age group with the most positive cases was 30-39.
• 30–39-year-old women are the group with the most reinfections, followed by 40–49-year-old women.
• A total of 95 COVID-19 patients occupied hospital beds in Northamptonshire on 15 March 2022, which is a 6% increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in the previous week (90 on 8 March 2022).

View the weekly Covid-19 Surveillance Report