This week’s key points:
- Case rates continue to decline at a reasonable rate, albeit less rapidly than in previous weeks. The latest case rate for Essex, in this pack, is 91.7 cases per 100,000, with significant reductions in a number of which had seen higher rates recently, including Tendring, Harlow and Braintree. There is some variation within Essex though, with Brentwood, which had shown a low rate recently, now seeing an increase in recent days. This is expected to fall again.
- Positivity rates are also declining, with no district being higher than 5.9% (Castle Point). Brentwood’s positivity rate has risen only a little, which suggests that the increase in the case rate there over the last week is as the result of more tests being carried out.
- Our community rapid testing sites have shown a positivity rate of 1% for the seven days to 21st February – this is among asymptomatic people taking a test. There is much spare capacity at these sites, with around 20% of capacity across the county being taken up. Please do encourage people without symptoms, who need to go out to work to visit the sites for a test – which can now be done on a walk-in basis.
- As of last night, 6,252 tests had been carried out as part of the surge-testing exercise that is taking place this week in one area of Brentwood. Results are not yet available. Some concerns have been expressed about the need to extend the testing area, but the exercise, covering around 5,000 households is deemed to be highly precautionary. There is no need for concern either in Brentwood or elsewhere.
- Hospital occupancy has now fallen to 410, down 29% from last week. It is worth noting that around a third of the admissions in this most recent wave have been people aged under 50 - highlighting that this can be a serious disease in younger people.
- The number of care homes managing a serious outbreak has fallen significantly, and this fall will continue – a large number of those care homes still with outbreaks haven’t had a positive case over the last two weeks.
- On the basis of the current position, the Director of Public Health is content to allow visiting to care homes within best covid-secure practice.
- All care homes have now been visited and vaccinated
- While sadly there were 66 Covid-related deaths in Essex hospitals since the last report, this number continues to fall, and is now similar to the numbers we were seeing in early December. The non-covid deaths over the first six weeks of this year are around 15% lower than for the same period last year, reflecting a lower prevalence of other conditions such as influenza this year.
- I am expecting that there will be a separate briefing being circulated regarding the return of children to school.
- An separate update briefing on the vaccination programme is attached.
