Peterborough’s Director of Public Health urges residents to get vaccinated as case number rise sharply

Jyoti Atri was speaking after data for Covid cases in the city, released on Monday (July 5), showed that Peterborough’s case rate has risen to 131.5 cases per 100,000 people, with 266 new cases recorded on Monday.

That compared to the previous week’s figure of 59.3 cases per 100,000 with 120 new cases.

Cases have been rising across the country and the government continues on its course to full re-opening on July 19.

The national average has risen to 244 cases per 100,000. Peterborough still sits well below this and more in line with Cambridgeshire’s average, which is 122.

Cricially, these case rises have not translated into hospitalisations though.

On Tuesday, the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Peterborough, Hinchingbrooke and Stamford and Rutland Hospitals, confirmed that they were caring for less than 20 patients with Covid-19 across their three sites.

Jyoti Atri said: “Covid-19 rates are rising across the country with the national average now at 224 cases per 100,000 and the regional average at 122 cases per 100,000.

“Therefore, it is no surprise that rates are rising in Peterborough, as they are across the rest of Cambridgeshire too, however they are broadly in line with the regional average.

“That said, there is no room for complacency and any sharp increase is always a cause for concern.

“We all need to play our part and remember that now is not the time to let our guard down.

“That means getting vaccinated - both doses - which is the single biggest thing you can do to help us fight Covid. And we need everyone to rapid test twice a week, to track the one in three people with Covid who don’t know they’ve got it and could be spreading it unknowingly.

“It is also important to continue to follow preventive measures such as keeping our distance, meeting outdoors as far as possible, wearing masks and handwashing.

“If we can all do both those things, we will be able to turn a tide on this rise and ensure that we can return to a more normal way of life and keep hospital admissions and deaths low.”