Peterborough Covid rate driven up by workers as hospital numbers remain above first wave

Although Covid rates and deaths in the city are continuing to decrease significant challenges remain, according to Dr Liz Robin, director of public health for Peterborough and Cambridgeshire.

Speaking during a second Peterborough Covid Summit labelled ‘fighting for our city,’ Dr Robin revealed that the city’s infection rate was double the national average with the number of patients in hospital at Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital higher than during last year’s peak.

Dr Robin said cases, deaths and hospitalisations have been falling but that “Peterborough remains one of the areas in the country with the highest rates”.

Peterborough’s figures have been affected by its urban population, high areas of deprivation, people in low-paying employment, the high proportion of workers in industries such as warehousing, distribution and agriculture - which require them going into work - and the high percentage of people from ethnic minority backgrounds who are believed to be at a higher risk, Dr Robin added.

She continued: “We went into November lockdown with Covid rates lower than the national average. Our rates didn’t fall and we came out higher than the national average.

“We went into the January lockdown with Covid rates lower than the national average. Our rates have fallen, which is good. They’ve almost halved. But they’ve fallen more slowly than the national fall.

“So we went into lockdown better than the national Covid rates but now we have higher rates than average. That’s probably connected with people having to continue to go into work so there’s less of a lockdown. It’s a challenge.

“The number of patients in our hospitals with Covid has fallen but it’s still higher than it was in the first wave. Sadly we’ve seen deaths in Peterborough from the second wave of Covid. Those peaked in January and are falling, but sadly they are still happening.

“The good news is our vaccination rates in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough are very good. Lots of people are getting a vaccine.”

Dr Robin highlighted four key challenges going forward: reducing Covid rates in people of working age, maximising the vaccine roll-out, making sure all communities have confidence in getting tested and receiving self-isolation support and a vaccine, and the return to school of all pupils.

Dr Neil Modha from Thistlemoor Medical Centre told the summit: “There’s been a lot of great working across the whole system.

“The hospital has been inundated with some very sick and frail people and younger people than you would expect. Unfortunately, many of our patients have been very unwell, both from the effects of coronavirus and the effects after coronavirus like long Covid, an increase in mental health problems and physical, long-term conditions.

“We’ve tried to be very open and honest about what the NHS can do and what it is struggling to do.

“The best thing of the last 12 months has been the coronavirus vaccination programme. Personally, that’s been one of the most enjoyable things I’ve done, working in a vaccination clinic, giving people a bit of light at the end of the tunnel.

“As time goes on it’s just affecting everyone’s mental health. Whether you’ve got an underlying mental health problem or you didn’t have before, I think everyone is becoming pretty sad, deflated and struggling as time goes on.”

Dr Modha said he wanted to encourage patients to get vaccinated and to dispel myths about jabs.

“Please, please, please, when you get the opportunity please get your vaccination,” he added.

There was widespread praise for the leadership shown by Peterborough City Council during the pandemic, including from MP for Peterborough Paul Bristow, but city council cabinet member for adult social care, health and public health Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald fired a warning.

Speaking about the Government’s road map to end restrictions in June, he said: “I don’t want Peterborough to be left behind and be at the back of that road. I want us to be leading from the front and get over that finish line to be below the national average, to have as little Covid as we can in the city.

“Clearly, we are coming down but it is slow. We need to think what else can we do, because clearly at the moment we are behind and I’m not happy about that.

“A lot of people are doing what they can, but some people are not otherwise we wouldn’t have the situation we are in.

“We need to focus on where the issues are and double down on our efforts to try and catch us up and get below the national average because I’m sick and tired of people running Peterborough down.

“We are where we are but it’s not doom and gloom. In these last three months let’s get back to the position where we were last summer where we were out front as an exemplar.

“We have been doing great work but I don’t want to feel like we’re in danger of backslapping too much.”

The first summit took place last October and included measures to help tackle a rise in infections, including the introduction of Covid marshals into the city.

The latest meeting on Zoom - which had members of the Cabinet Office listening in - was introduced by leader of Peterborough City Council Cllr John Holdich, who told attendees: “I think I said at the summit I’ve really never seen so many services and communities all come together to work together to beat this pandemic and that’s still been the case.

“Whilst I realise the Prime Minister has said to us we have a route map out of this it frightens me somewhat that people have said ‘oh it’s alright, we’ll give up’. But we can’t afford to give up.

“We owe it to our communities and to businesses in the city and indeed the city as a whole to continue the fight, because if we don’t continue the fight the figures will still go up and we won’t get out of this pandemic and this city open again and people will be ill and dying.”

Council chief executive Gillian Beasley said: “We’ve fought many foes in our time and done really well, and this is one that we’ve still got to fight.

“We have the benefit of having the Cabinet Office with us this week. I’m hopeful this week we can learn more about what we can do.

“I know when we do a call to action you will step up to that and I have no doubt there will be a further call to action.

“Hopefully with the support of the Cabinet Office, and your support, those rates will come down faster because we need to get Peterborough into a position where the rates are low, where we have an outbreak we can step on it fast, and we can open up our economy to all of our citizens. That’s the prize.”