Calls for caution as rate of infection remains high in Herefordshire

Civic leaders across Herefordshire are calling on people to stay at home as much as possible as the rate of coronavirus infection in the county appears to be increasing.

Data released by Herefordshire Council shows the total cumulative number of confirmed Covid-19 cases across the county to be 418, with 146 these being care home residents.

There have been a total of 70 deaths linked to coronavirus in Herefordshire. Of these, 40 were in hospital, 26 in care homes, three in hospices and there has been one death recorded at home in the community.

Herefordshire Council leader David Hitchiner said he felt the county was about two weeks behind London in terms of how the virus is progressing.

“The hospital seems to be managing pretty well. If the death rate starts rising the first signs will be the hospital getting busier.

“We have a close relationship with the care homes and they will have a reasonable indication of how bad things are in each home.

“Each home is phoned up every day to find out their status and if PPE is needed in those places.

“The message is we want people to stay at home as much as possible and to not think everything is rosy.

“In London, they say let’s open schools on June 1, maybe we should be waiting a couple of weeks.

“On that particular point we think we should leave it to the individual schools because we are such a diverse county.”

Coun Hitchiner also said the sooner people are comfortable about going out the sooner the economy will get back to normal.

“I had a meeting yesterday and we were talking about recovery,” he said.

“I was thinking in terms of how we might stimulate particular companies and industries but the recovery will start to come when people feel comfortable about going out.

“If we want recovery, we need to be giving people a message that they can now go out but we can’t do that if we don’t feel comfortable.

“We need people to be circulating so the economy can work and operate but at the moment we are not confident at all which is a dilemma.”

Ross-on-Wye GP and clinical director Simon Lennane and mayor Daniel Lister issued a joint statement this week warning that health services are aware of clusters of Covid-19 in the town and other parts of the county.

They also referenced data from Public Health England which was published in The Guardian on Friday showing the county had 41.6 positive coronavirus tests per 100,000 people over the last 10 days.

The statement warns that this data is likely to significantly under-represent new cases of Covid-19 as there is a lack of access to testing for everyone.

“The latest coronavirus testing figures from Public Health England are showing an increase in positive tests in Herefordshire,” the statement says.

“The rate at which new cases are being identified is much higher here than in other parts of the country.

“This suggests that the epidemic here has not yet reached a peak.”

“For our county of around 192,000 people, this represents an average of eight people a day testing positive at present.

“Without access to testing for everyone, this is likely to significantly under-represent new cases of Covid-19.

“Locally health services are aware of clusters of Covid-19 in Ross-on-Wye as well as other places in the county.

“We feel it is important that our community is aware that there are a growing number of cases in Ross, and the rate of infection in Herefordshire seems to be increasing.

“Being informed allows us to continue to take great care to protect ourselves and people around us.

“We strongly encourage people to reduce their own and others’ potential exposure to the virus wherever possible.”

They also encourage people in the Ross area to complete a coronavirus survey twice a week. The survey can be accessed at www.rosscdt.org.uk.