New variant of Covid-19 'not yet confirmed in Plymouth'
The new variant of Covid-19 has not yet been confirmed in Plymouth, councillors have been told.
The current infection rate of virus spread in the city is similar to earlier waves of the pandemic, which indicates the new variant is not yet involved.
The city’s Director of Public Health Dr Ruth Harrell warned the variant could still make an appearance.
The latest update on the rate of coronavirus infections was given at a meeting of the city council’s health and wellbeing board on Thursday morning.
Dr Harrell said figures showed Plymouth was experiencing a third wave of the virus, but the rate of spread was lower than the regional and national average.
She told councillors the national lockdown had come in time to reduce the risk of the more transmissible version of Covid-19 taking off.
The latest rise in infections started mainly in the younger working age population, then spread upwards through the age groups.
That was probably because they were in lower paid jobs in contact with more people.
The latest seven-day rate of infections per 100,000 population in Plymouth was 221, compared to 342 for the South West and 592 for England.
The other key figures:
For the over-60s the Plymouth rate was 121, compared to the regional average of 218.
Admissions with Covid-19 at Derriford Hospital have risen to more than 40, with three-quarters of those being admitted aged over 60.
Dr Harrell said the rise in infections was expected to flatten in a week or so due to the current lockdown.
She said the fact that Plymouth was seeing a relatively lower rate of cases was partly due to luck and geography, but also city organisations and the community “pulling together”.
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