Rising cases of Covid-19 in Sefton are “slowing down”, following a rapid introduction of dedicated testing facilities in Formby and Ainsdale.
Formby is one of six hotspots which have seen figures increasing due to the presence of cases of the virus variant first identified in India.
Sefton Council Chief Executive Dwayne Johnson said tonight: “Some great news we are seeing a slowing down of Covid – great contact tracing and advice from the council.
“We know that this variant appears to be more transmissible and with the easing of measures it may increase but not at the pace.”
Covid cases in Sefton fell slightly in the seven days up to 12th May from 120 cases to 115 cases, a 4.2% reduction. The Rolling Rate, which had been above 50 per 100,000, reduced to 41.6 per 100,000.
Rolling Rates for nearby areas include: Wirral (9.3), Liverpool (11.2), Knowsley (15.9), West Lancashire (17.5), South Ribble (20.7), Halton (20.9), and St Helens (21.0).
Local outbreaks of the new B1617.2 variant have sprung up in Bolton, Blackburn, Sefton, Bedford, Nottingham and Leicester as Public Health England last week confirmed it has found 1,313 cases so far.
Cases of the Indian Covid variant in the six English hotspots between 25th April and 8th May were:
Bolton 420
Blackburn 153
Sefton: 124
Bedford 99
Nottingham 60
Leicester 39
The Indian Covid variant now accounts for at least one in five infections in England and NHS figures show that five out of the six hotspots have vaccine uptake lower than the national average – the exception being Sefton, where 86% of people aged 40 and over have received a Covid vaccine. This compares to 74% in Nottingham and 75% in Leicester.
At the most recent count the Sanger Institute in London, which is analysing the variants in positive tests, found the Indian variant now makes up 20 per cent of all cases, showing it is edging out the Kent variant, now at 78 per cent.
The Sanger lab found 895 samples containing the variant in those six areas between April 25 and May 8, not including people who had travelled into England from abroad.
But only Sefton is keeping pace with the national vaccine rollout, having got at least one dose to 86 per cent of over-40s, while the England average is 83 per cent.
All but Sefton are also below the national average on getting two doses to everyone over the age of 70 (90 per cent) and four out of the six are behind on the proportion of over-50s to have had both doses.
Although figures suggest low vaccine rates aren’t causing high rates – most cases are in young adults – they will raise concerns that outbreaks could quickly turn deadly if older people aren’t protected. Eighteen people are reported to have been hospitalised with the variant in Bolton, with ‘the majority’ of them not fully vaccinated.
Sefton Council announced today that Formby and Freshfields railway stations will be the locations for its Public Health Teams pop-up sites for coronavirus testing this week.
Open from Tuesday 18th May to Friday 21st May, between 9am and 4pm, the two sites will be offering PCR tests to people without COVID-19 symptoms as part of efforts to find cases of the virus variant first identified in India.
Health leaders are urging everyone living, working and studying in the Formby area and those who have visited facilities in the area during the past two weeks to get tested.
The teams at the pop-ups will also be handing out home testing kits and will be joined by Community COVID Engagement Officers who can provide vaccination advice.
Local, dedicated coronavirus testing for the variant first identified in India was introduced in Sefton’s Formby area after cases of the variant were identified locally.
On Friday 14th May, mobile, drive-through test centres opened at Deansgate Lane Park in Formby and at Ainsdale Hope, formerly Ainsdale High School, on Sandringham Road (PR8 2PJ) in Ainsdale.
Also, a walk-through test centre opened at Sefton Professional Development Centre.
The Deansgate drive-through test centre is open from 9am to 4pm Monday to Friday, and the Professional Development Centre on Park Lane will be open between 9am and 4pm seven days a week.
The test centre at Ainsdale will be open from 9am until 4pm on Friday 14th May, but from Saturday 15th May will be open 9am to 8pm seven days a week.
Appointments are not needed for tests at any of these centres.
Announcing the testing last week, Sefton’s Director of Public Health, Margaret Jones said:
“We are encouraging everyone aged over 16 who lives, works or studies in Formby to attend one of our dedicated local test sites.
“It’s important that people go to these dedicated test sites and not to our other sites, as these are the ones specifically set up to identify the Indian variant.”
People can find out more about testing in Sefton at www.sefton.gov.uk/COVID-testing
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