Easter is here – and there is some good news on the Covid-19 front with the Cheshire holiday weekend.
That’s because, after a little wobble with new case numbers, the county seems to be back on track to ease infections – albeit slowly.
However, this goes hand in hand with strong vaccination progress and falling hospital admissions.
So where is Cheshire now and where is it from?
What went wrong?
In essence, the decline in falls stopped falling at the same rate as it had for several weeks.
During the last weekend feature of the Local Democracy Reporting Service, it was reported that Cheshire East’s rolling 7-day infection rate had increased by the 50 range for about a week.
The situation was more worrying in Cheshire West and Chester, however, as the rate actually rose to 70.5 cases per 100,000 residents on March 26 – up from 59.2 nine days earlier.
“This is cause for concern. We’ve been stuck at 60 per 100,000 levels for about three or four weeks now, “said Andrew Lewis, CEO of CWAC, on March 23rd.
“I think that was discussed at the last meeting [on March 10] and since then we have continued the similar levels of infection in the community based on the number of positive tests. “
Mr Lewis pointed to the reopening of schools and the associated increase in testing as one reason why rates are rising – but he said the main driver was a continuation of workplace outbreaks.
What about now?
Interest rates have fallen again. In Cheshire East, it’s 45 per 100,000 – 14 percent less than a week ago.
In the western half of the county it is now 64.1 – a modest 6.4 percent decrease.
Indeed, progress in CEC has resulted in Council Chairman Sam Corcoran saying the district now has a great opportunity to tackle the virus this spring and summer.
On Wednesday morning (March 31st) Cllr Sam Corcoran said on Twitter: “I want to repeat the words of the National Medical Director of England, Prof. Stephen Powis, to acknowledge the tremendous progress that has been made – but also to recognize that the coronavirus occurs more chaos and disease on a significant scale.
“I share his concern about the potential for new varieties, but we now have a great opportunity to stay updated on the virus this spring and summer when the weather is helping to keep infection rates down.”
It’s worth noting that the lingering fear of a new wave lingers, although confidence remains high.
It prompted Ian Ashworth, CWAC’s director of public health, to warn residents about Easter.
He said: “None of us want to see a third wave of this horrific virus and it is poignant that this relaxation of the rules immediately after Judgment Day commemorating the 126,000 people who lost Covid-19 in the UK, follows in the last 12 months alone. That’s more than 10,000 people a month, 345 people a day.
“So please be careful – keep the trip to a minimum, stay on the spot, remember the rule of six and hands, face, space and fresh air. We all need a break this Easter, but let’s enjoy it carefully and keep the infection rate down. “
How is the NHS doing?
The vaccination program is still going well. The latest data from NHS England as of March 28 shows that 60 percent of those over 16 in Cheshire and Merseyside have received their first dose.
That includes 95 percent of Cheshire’s 50+ residents.
In fact, the county’s 94.7 percent rate is also the leading number in the Cheshire and Merseyside sub-region, ahead of eight other NHS areas.
Hospitals are also becoming less busy – with 42 patients in the three Cheshire NHS trusts as of March 30, compared to 54 the week before.
Can we still sit back and relax?
The scenes of crowds enjoying spring sunshine in English parks this week caused outrage on social media.
There are two reasons. The first is rubbish left behind in such quantities that in some cases it took all of the following day to clean up.
The other reason is that many coronavirus rules have allegedly been violated – with groups of more than six mingling with each other.
Looking at the dates for Cheshire, that anger might be justified if similar scenes were to take place.
Infection rates around the 50 mark may sound good compared to January – and it’s excellent advancement – but it’s also worth noting that these rates are similar to when Cheshire entered the Tier system in the fall.
So we should be perfectly happy with the progress, but it’s far from over.
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