What is the Covid situation in St Helens as local case numbers rise to nearly 1,000 a week?

Hospital admissions do remain stable though at the moment and the number of people doubled jabbed is up to 75 per cent.

But there are growing concerns nationally and Health Secretary Sajid Javid hosted a press conference today.

The infection rate figures for St Helens, for the seven days to October 16, show how many people tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, by specimen date.

St Helens' rate stood at 543.9 per 100,000 after 985 positive tests up from 416.4 per 100,000 a week earlier when 754 cases were recorded.

What these figures don't give us is a breakdown of age, so it is does not provide a picture of whether cases are high among teenagers, for example.

Breakdowns do go to local public health leaders and have been released at various points over the course of the pandemic, so it is possible an update will be published in the coming weeks.

The situation in St Helens, with increasing rates, mirrors the national trend.

Of the 377 local areas in the UK, 306 (81 per cent) have seen a week-on-week rise in rates, 70 (19 per cent) have seen a fall and one is unchanged.

Blaenau Gwent in Wales has the highest rate in the UK, with 722 new cases in the seven days to October 16 – the equivalent of 1,031.1 per 100,000 people.

This is up sharply from 377.0 in the seven days to October 9.

The surge in new cases has led to reports in the national media that the Government may need to move to a Plan B for managing the pandemic during the winter months, however, there are likely to be other factors to consider, particularly the number of patients being admitted to the hospital with the condition.

Since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, a total of 30,030 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in St Helens

What is the situation in local hospitals?

Although cases have been rising hospital admissions remain under control, although there can sometimes be a lag between higher rates and admissions.

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust was caring for 35 coronavirus patients in hospital as of Tuesday, October 12, latest figures show.

That was down from 44 on the same day the previous week.

The number of beds at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 decreased by 42 per cent in the last four weeks – 28 days ago, there were 60.

The figures also show that 25 new Covid patients were admitted to hospital in St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust in the week to October 10. This was down from 41 in the previous seven days.

Updated figures will be published at the end of this week.

Nationally, admissions are rising.

Are we still seeing Covid related-deaths?

Official figures show one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in St Helens.

The dashboard shows that since the start of the pandemic 511 people had died in the area by October 20 (Wednesday) – up from 510 on Tuesday.

It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on four the previous week.

Concerns are growing about the picture nationally, though, with health leaders warning the numbers are going in the wrong direction.

What about vaccinations?

The figures also show that three-quarters of people in St Helens have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 124,707 people had received both jabs by October 19 (Tuesday) – 75 per cent of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 79 per cent of people aged 12 and above had received a second dose of the jab.

Unlike at local level, the national rate was calculated using mid-2020 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

Meanwhile, a booster programme is being rolled out to vulnerable groups.

What is the Government saying about the national situation and could there be fresh restrictions?

The Government has no current plans to implement its Plan B for tackling coronavirus, the Health Secretary has said, adding that ministers do not believe the pressures on the NHS are unsustainable.

In his first eDowning Street press conference, Sajid Javid repeated his warning that Covid-19 cases could reach 100,000 a day as the country enters a challenging winter period.

He said the UK was seeing “greater pressure” on the NHS but the Government will “do what it takes to make sure that this pressure doesn’t become unsustainable, and that we don’t allow the NHS to become overwhelmed.”

Deaths “remain mercifully low” at the moment, he said, but added: “We’ve always known that the winter months would pose the greatest threat to our road to recovery.”

He added: “Thanks to the vaccination programme, the link between hospitalisations and deaths has significantly weakened, but it’s not broken.

“So we must all remember that this virus will be with us for the long term and remains a threat to our loved ones, and a threat to the progress that we’ve made in getting our nation closer to normal life.”

What could the winter hold?

Mr Javid urged people to have their vaccines, including Covid boosters and jabs for flu, and said: “If we all play our part, then we can give ourselves the best possible chance in this race, get through this winter, and enjoy Christmas with our loved ones.”

Latest Government figures show that a further 179 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday.

As of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 49,139 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK.

Hospital admissions stand at 868 on average per day over the last seven days, up from 780 a week earlier, a rise of 11%.

Earlier, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation which represents health bodies, warned “we risk stumbling into a winter crisis” unless measures such as face masks and vaccine passports – the Government’s “Plan B” for the coming months – are introduced in England.

He called for ministers to come up with a “Plan C” of even tougher restrictions if those measures are insufficient to address pressure on the health service.

Vaccines are 'clearly working'

Mr Javid told the Downing Street press conference the Government was concerned about the number of cases, but that vaccines were “clearly working” when it came to hospital admissions and deaths.

Asked about unsustainable pressure on the health service, he said: “We don’t believe that the pressures that are currently faced by the NHS are unsustainable.

“Don’t get me wrong, there are huge pressures especially in A&E, in primary care, for example, as well, but at this point we don’t believe they are unsustainable.

“If we feel at any point it’s becoming unsustainable then the department, together with our friends in the NHS, we won’t hesitate to act.”

He added: “We’ll be staying vigilant, preparing for all eventualities while strengthening our vital defences that can help us fight back against this virus.”

Praising deals for new two antiviral treatments that can cut the risk of death for the most vulnerable as “great news”, he said: “But we cannot be complacent when Covid-19 remains such a potent threat.”

The Health Secretary said England had reached a “milestone” of four million top-up jabs on Wednesday, adding: “None of us want to go backwards now.

“So we must all play our part in this national mission, and think about what we can do to make a difference.

“That means getting the jab when the time comes, whether it’s for Covid-19 or flu.”

What else can people do?

He stressed that, aside from vaccinations, people can take other – now voluntary – measures such as meeting outdoors where possible, ensuring good ventilation, wearing masks in crowded spaces and taking lateral flow tests.

He said: “With winter soon upon us, these little steps make a big difference. And they’re more important now than they have ever been.”

High level of cases

Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said the UK is going into winter with a “really high level” of cases.

“What we can see is that the cases now are almost as high as they were in July and actually not far off where they were last winter,” she said.

“What we are not seeing is that dip down again at the other side of the peak and that is really important because we are kicking off the winter at a really high level of cases.

“Fortunately that is not currently working through into serious disease and deaths.”

However, she later said the last two days have seen the highest death rates for some time, adding that the number of deaths are “moving in the wrong direction”.