Covid: Rotherham's infection rate highest in the country

The latest data from NHS Digital shows that Rotherham's Covid-19 weekly infection rate up to last Saturday was 169.5 per 100,000 people - up 24 per cent from the previous week.

This gave the borough the highest 7-day infection rate in the country - and well above the national average.

Inpatient numbers at Rotherham Hospital have fallen in recent weeks, with 22 Covid-19 inpatients being treated as of last Wednesday.

Ben Anderson, Rotherham's public health director, said the infection rate across Rotherham was higher than he would like to see but he had expected a rise due to changes in the borough's testing regime.

"Overall infection rates in Rotherham have been impacted by more testing of asymptomic people, which has included more residents who cannot work from home and children now they have returned to school and the testing of their families if a child tests positive for the virus," he said.

"We do want to get the rates down, but at the same time we are really pushing testing, so higher rates will come out as a result of this."

Across the country as a whole, infection rates have fallen steadily in recent weeks, although case numbers are expected to rise as lockdown measures are eased.

Rotherham's current infection rate is still well below the peak of 515 per 100,000 people.

Mr Anderson added that the new Kent variant - which had no chance to spread to South Yorkshire before Christmas due to the strict tiered restrictions, had a part to play in numbers rising because this strain of the virus spread easier.

Mr Anderson said: "We had not seen much of the Kent variant in this area due to the restrictions before Christmas and the country being locked down, but we will now be seeing more variant cases because of the government's road map out of lockdown.

"In terms of infection rates, we will be higher than the rest of the country for a while because we are behind the rest of the country in terms of exposure to the Kent variant. 

"However, people being vaccinated as soon as possible will help to suppress transmission of the variant, so we should see the numbers balance out." 

The public health boss urged people in Rotherham to still exercise the guidance of "hands, face, space" and anyone with symptoms, even if they are mild, to get tested and self-isolate as quickly as possible.

"Virus infections are still spread evenly across the borough and we are not seeing any particular area with a higher rate," he added.

"As we come through the government's road map, infection rates in this area are still high and people need to be aware of this. Just because we can do more, doesn't mean that we should.

"People need to keeping thinking about hands, face, space as it's still very important and just because children are mixing in school, does not mean they should interact outside of school. 

"Schools and work places provide controlled environments and all social mixing carries a risk outside of these controlled environments."