Various regions in England registered a drop in infections with 50 per cent of the 315 local areas seeing a fall in cases.
Various locations in England have recorded lower rates in coronavirus infections, new data shows. The latest collected data recorded a high death toll but a drop in covid cases, including London where the highest numbers are registered.
Covid cases are going down
Yesterday the worst ever death toll was reported with 1,564 deaths, the highest daily death rate since the start of the pandemic. A little hope came from the latest weekly covid cases toll which registered a clear drop in numbers.
Public Health England reported 864,9 cases in London area per 100,000 people which is down from the 1,043,9 the previous week. Many other locations in England registered a drop in cases: East Midlands, East England, North-East England, South-East England and Yorkshire & the Humber. The lowest covid infections rate is reported in Yorkshire and the Humber, as also in the previous weeks, with a rate of 297,2 which is down from 309,9.
“There’s a sign of plateauing”
Public Health England said a total of new cases in a day was 47,525, down of the record rate of 63,233 registered only last Wednesday. According to specialists, such as Professor Neil Ferguson, the current covid wave could be slowly coming under control in England. Professor Ferguson, from the Medical Research Council’s Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London, commented: “I think it’s much too early to say exactly when case numbers are going to start coming down, but in some NHS regions in England and in Wales there’s sign of plateauing.”
The latest numbers show the rate slowing at national level. About 49 per cent of England registered a rise in rates, while every local authority area clearly shows a drop in numbers with 50 per cent of the 315 local areas seeing a fall in cases. This comes as hospitalisations and deaths in certain regions continue to go up. According to Professor Ferguson it will take longer to see the number of hospitalisations and deaths coming down, for instance hospital bed occupancy could continue rising for two weeks and deaths for longer.
Hospitalisations going up
ICYMI: We’ve published our weekly #COVID19 surveillance report: https://t.co/a6mN93iPod
It shows hospital admission rates for covid-19 are highest in #London and have increased in all regions except the North East. pic.twitter.com/Hzgj9OKHxn
— Public Health England (@PHE_uk) January 15, 2021
According to Professor Ferguson hospitalisations and deaths may continue to rise for weeks before seeing a drop, this would depend on a number of factors. “It will take longer though for hospital admissions – daily admissions – to start coming down and even longer for hospital bed occupancy to come down,” – he continues- “it critically depends on whether the lockdown we’re in the moment will actually control growth in all areas.. But I would hope that hospital admissions might plateau, instead of keep going up, some time in the next week.. Hospital bed occupancy may continue to rise slowly for up to two weeks and deaths maybe even for longer.”
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