Public health boss urges people not to minimise coronavirus

Since the start of the outbreak in March, at least 199 deaths in St Helens have been linked to COVID-19, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A large chunk of that occurred in the borough’s care homes, with the virus claiming the lives of some of the most vulnerable residents in St Helens.

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Thankfully, the mortality rate has pretty much ground to a halt in recent months.

And after seeing one of the worst infection rates in England, the weekly rate dropped to 1.1, per 100,000 population – the lowest in the North West.

However, this has now started to creep up following a spike in cases last week, and on Wednesday, St Helens Borough Council said it had risen to 11.7.

New surveillance data released on Friday by Public Health England (PHE) has shown that the weekly infection rate has increased further.

It showed that, between August 5 to August 11, the weekly infection rate was 14.4.

Another eight cases have been added to PHE’s figures this week, seven of those were added on Friday.

This brings the total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19 in St Helens since the start of the outbreak in mid-March to 1,246.

While the numbers are still relatively small, public health chiefs are concerned the spike may spiral, leading to a rise in hospital admissions and deaths, and economic damage through the tightening of lockdown restrictions.

Despite the clear danger we face as a borough, a growing number of people have been playing down the virus in St Helens.

“If we get a lot of this in our community, we will take it back to our care homes,” said Sue Forster, the director for public health for St Helens Borough Council.

“We will take it back to our mums and our dads, our grandmas, our nans, who maybe do have long-term health conditions and then we will start to see spikes in hospital admissions again and then we’ll start to see a lot more deaths.

“I think the thing is, people are minimising it because we had seen it go right down.

“And for some people, they don’t know somebody who’s actually been impacted by it or severely impacted by it, but I have, and I know people who have been.

“I know people whose told me about people whose been impacted. If you hear some of those personal stories, you really, really would think about it.”

Ms Forster revealed there has been an increase in young people in St Helens, aged 18-25, testing positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks.

And as time goes on, some of the long-term impacts of contracting COVID-19 are becoming clearer.

“It’s now beginning to transpire in the young, that are ending up with long-term residual effects from the virus,” Ms Forster said.

“So I would not minimise this virus. Obviously, the evidence is coming out more and more.

“And as our cohort of people who are getting tested and becoming positive is moving to a younger age group, I think we will start to see what that looks like for that age group.”

Washing your hands regularly for 20 seconds is a simple step that can help stop the spread of coronavirus

Ms Forster said the local authority needs to work with young people around coronavirus.

She also admitted that Government guidance on coronavirus is “really confusing”, something critics have been saying throughout the pandemic.

“People get confused about what the rules are,” she said.

“I keep saying, for me, no matter how much guidance is out there, keep two metres apart because actually that’s better, even in a social circumstance.

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“If you regularly wash your hands for 20 seconds, if you reduce your number of contacts, you reduce your risk.

“Despite what Government says, six here, 30 here, one household there – it’s really confusing.

“But just reduce your contacts, wear a mask and do it properly, in an enclosed space, and we won’t go far wrong.”