Peterborough among areas listed on coronavirus ‘watchlist’

Peterborough has been listed on the coronavirus ‘watchlist’ of areas of concern in the latest Public Health England Report.
Covid 19 testing station at Gladstone Park community centre. EMN-200715-115321009Covid 19 testing station at Gladstone Park community centre. EMN-200715-115321009
Covid 19 testing station at Gladstone Park community centre. EMN-200715-115321009

The weekly report from Public health England which the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock uses to advise the government, has Peterborough listed as an ‘amber’ area of concern.

Overall the total weekly case rate for Peterborough was 19.4 which was a fall on the previous week.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Peterborough and neighbouring Northampton have been flagged as areas of concern, although both currently have falling infection levels.

The report also shows Peterborough has a high level of testing with the average number of individuals tested per day per 100,000 of population is 133.2.

The report said: “The Watchlist is produced by first considering the lower tier local authorities with the highest weekly incidence rate and its trend, combined with a range of other indicators including the test positivity rate, an assessment of the local response and plans, and the trend of other metrics such as healthcare activity and mortality. The classification decision is therefore a blended assessment drawing on professional judgement.”

The Watchlist classification uses three levels:

• Areas of concern — for areas with the highest prevalence, where the local area is taking targeted actions to reduce prevalence e.g. additional testing in care homes and increased community engagement with high risk groups

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

• Areas for enhanced support — for areas at medium/high risk of intervention where there is a more detailed plan, agreed with the national team and with additional resources being provided to support the local team (eg epidemiological expertise, additional mobile testing capacity)

• Areas of intervention — where there is divergence from the measures in place in the rest of England because of the significance of the spread, with a detailed action plan in place, and local resources augmented with a national support

The following local authorities have been included in the watchlist following the weekly Local Action Committee meeting. The report says the list is based on a range of indicators and an assessment of local response and plans:

Blackburn with Darwen, Leicester, Oldham, Bradford, Hyndburn (Lancashire), Rochdale, Pendle (Lancashire), Trafford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Manchester, Bolton, Salford, Burnley (Lancashire), Tameside, Stockport, Bury, Wigan, Rossendale, Oadby and Wigston (Leicestershire), Luton, Eden (Cumbria), Sandwell, Northampton (Northamptonshire), Peterborough, Rotherham, Wakefield.