WORCESTERSHIRE’S Director of Public Health has issued a message to residents after the introduction of the latest lockdown.
Dr Kathryn Cobain, the Director for Public Health in Worcestershire, said she knew the news would be frustrating and upsetting for many people.
“Worcestershire has tried very hard to keep Covid-19 cases down, and many of you have made sacrifices to protect yourselves and others.
“We have all had to make changes to the way we live our lives in recent months, and that included over Christmas, when so many were not able to spend time with loved ones.”
But she added there were some stark realities to take notice of with Worcestershire’s infection rate being the highest it had ever been.
In the past seven days alone, there had been 1,888 positive Covid-19 cases – more than all positive cases seen during May, June, July, August and September 2020 combined.
She added: “I am concerned about this level of spread, and the risk it poses to our health and the lives of our vulnerable and elderly residents.
“We need to act now to protect one another, prevent the virus spreading further and reduce the demand on our hospitals.”
She said Coronavirus continued to dominate everyone’s daily lives – cases were rising nationally, the new variant of Covid-19 could spread very quickly and the NHS was facing considerable pressure on its services, leading to the latest England-wide lockdown.
“This means once again, we are facing tough restrictions on our way of life.
“I know this is hard, but by doing as we are asked, we are saving lives.
“The restrictions have been brought in to protect every one of us.”
She urged everyone to stay at home and not to go out unless it was absolutely necessary.
“The Government has set out the clear limitations of the lockdown and I ask you to read the restrictions and follow the rules.
Click here for more on the restrictions.
Once again, Worcestershire County Council’s Here2Help service is available to anyone who needs support or is clinically extremely vulnerable (shielding).
For those you have no-one to turn to for help, the service can respond and provide help such as collecting medicines and getting shopping.
Go to worcestershire.gov.uk/here2help for more information.
