Newcastle Covid rate rise not leading to big jump in hospital admissions

A public health boss has said rising Covid infection rates were not leading to rapid increases in hospital admissions.

Newcastle upon Tyne has had England's biggest week-on-week case rise, up from 116.6 to 236.4 per 100,000.

The city's director of public health, Professor Eugene Milne, said almost two thirds of the new cases were among largely unvaccinated under-25s.

He added that it was always to be expected that, as restrictions began to ease, infection rates would begin to rise as the virus was presented with further opportunities to spread.

They are also seeing early signs that vaccines are successfully breaking the chain between infection and serious illness.

He repeated the plea for people to minimise transmission by sticking to the "hands, face, space and fresh air" guidance.