Plymouth among the country's worst places for covid rates

The council is urging the public to get their booster vaccine to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Plymouth has one of the highest coronavirus infection rates in the country, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.

At a local authority level, there are 865.2 cases of the virus per 100,000 people - the fourth highest in England.

However, for three successive days, the numbers have fallen.

Plymstock Hooe & Oreston remains the area's 'Covid capital'.

It comes as four cases of the Omicron variant were confirmed in the city. It is expected that the new variant will spread much quicker than any other.

The number of confirmed cases in Plymouth is now over 2000, an increase of 12.5% since last week.

Top five areas in Plymouth in number of cases per 100,000

  • Plymstock Hooe & Oreston - 1494.2

  • Efford, Laira & Crabtree - 1394.4

  • Higher Compton & Eggbuckland - 1166.4

  • Plympton Underwood - 1152.6

  • Peverell - 1100.1

The figures are related to the period between December 3 and 9.

Plymstock Hooe & Oreston and Efford, Laira & Crabtree are inside the top ten in England.

Rates are highest in children aged between 5-9, followed by 10-14, and 15-19 and lowest in the over 90s with only one reported case.

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The director of Public Health for Devon County Council, Steven Brown, has urged the public to get their booster vaccine to curb the spread of the virus.

He said, "It's absolutely critical because we know that the booster vaccine offers about 70 to 75% against symptomatic infection against the Omicron variant.

"I would urge anyone today if they haven't booked their vaccine, to book now on the NHS booking system.

"Over the last four or five weeks, the number of cases in Devon have been amongst the highest in the country.

"The last seven to eight days or so, we're starting to see a bit of a downward trajectory in that, so numbers are coming down in Devon, however, I would urge a bit of caution.

"We do know that the Omicron variant is much more transmissible than Delta so I fully expect that as we run into Christmas we'll see those case numbers start to rise again."