Covid-19: Peterborough moving into Tier 3 ‘inevitable’ but not enough to stop spread

Dr Liz Robin said the East of England has seen rapid rises in infections in urban areas which explains why Peterborough will move up from Tier 2 on Saturday, meaning pubs and restaurants will be forced to close apart from for takeaways.

But she warned that with people of all ages catching the virus, following government rules will not be enough to stop the number of cases rising in the future, with residents urged to be as vigilant as possible.

She said: “If we look at the bigger picture rates of Covid are rising quickly across the East of England. Peterborough is not alone. Rates are rising in Essex, Luton, Hertfordshire - even in Cambridgeshire the percentage rise in cases is quite similar to Peterborough, but Peterborough started at a higher number so the percentage rise is bigger.

“For the last set of figures, there has been a 36 per cent rise between the week leading to December 11 and the week before that. That’s a big rise in cases. In that week we had 564 cases of Covid diagnosed in Peterborough with a rate of 270 cases per 100,000 population.

“It’s impacting vulnerable residents and hospitals. We need to address it in Peterborough. With those rates the move to Tier 3 was inevitable. It gives the message to local residents how serious the situation is and that we must all work together to address it and keep rates our down.

“New interventions in Tier 3 will help but won’t be enough. As well as observing Tier 3 restrictions our residents absolutely need to follow other Covid safety guidance - hands, face and space - and also absolutely minimalise social contacts with other people so they stop non-essential social contact.

“If we do that it will help to stabilise our rates and bring them down.

“If anyone has Covid symptoms they must self-isolate with other people who live in their house and get a test. Anyone told to self-isolate must do that as well. We’re putting in good support as well so there’s no reason not to. Whatever people need we want to help them to self-isolate.”

One measure to help bring rates down will be rapid flow tests which will initially be used in areas of clusters, beginning at street level.

Dr Robin added: “Peterborough is naturally at a higher risk because it’s an urban centre. There’s also a risk factor because residents work in frontline jobs and need to go out to work.

“We also have some central areas where houses are closer together and a lot of people are working in close proximity. When you look at the bigger picture Peterborough residents and communities have done well to keep rates down.

“Our rate of rise is quite a bit less than the East of England average rate, but it’s still quite concerning. We need to protect vulnerable residents and local hospitals.”

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