Middle-aged men driving Liverpool's coronavirus infection rate - public health chief
Middle-aged men are driving coronavirus infection rates in Liverpool, the city's director of public health has said.
Matthew Ashton said the area had seen a drop in infection levels since January, but in the last few days, the rates had plateaued.
A council spokesman said analysis showed men aged 40 to 59 were contracting the virus the most and could be unknowingly spreading it in workplaces and households.
Mr Ashton said: "January was absolutely horrendous in terms of infection rates and the pressure on the NHS and social care system, and I am hopeful that we have now passed the worst of it.
"However, although infection rates have reduced a lot, in the last few days in Liverpool they have plateaued and we really need it to get a lot lower if we want to be in a good position when we get out of lockdown.
"The rollout of the vaccine is going really well, but the reality is that it will take many months for us to immunise a large proportion of the population.
"In the meantime, we have to continue to do all the things we have been doing such as social distancing, wearing face coverings and getting tested regularly if we are going out to work.
"We know from some analysis of the data that middle-aged men are driving the infection rate in some areas. That is why testing, and self-isolating if you test positive, are so important.
"If we give it a huge push over the next four weeks we will be in a much stronger position when the Government decides to start to ease lockdown restrictions and that will give us more of the freedoms that we all crave."
Residents who have to leave their homes for work or education are being urged to have tests every five to seven days at symptom-free test centres or through their employers.
Council cabinet member for public health Paul Brant said: "This last year has been difficult for everyone, and we knew it was going to be a tough winter.
"However, if we can all really make an extra effort in the next few weeks then it will pay dividends in the months ahead while we wait for the impact of the vaccine programme to really kick in.
"We really do appreciate how tough this is, but the fastest and easiest way out of this, is to slow transmission of the virus as much as we possibly can. Please follow the rules and ask for help if you need it."