Covid-19 infections are still falling in Halton but the last week has seen hospital admissions reach record levels amid warnings that the public needed to go “back to basics”.
The week up to January 19 saw 963 people test positive for Covid-19 in Halton, a rate of 744 cases per 100,000 residents.
Although this is well below the level seen at the peak of the third wave on January 8, cases are still well above the peak of the second wave and Halton Council’s director of public health Eileen O’Meara warned the public to stay alert.
She said: “We know that the cases in the young impact on the old, people go to visit their granny, people live in multi-generational houses, and we know that hospitals are busy.
“We need to go back to basics.”
Ms O’Meara said that meant continuing to stay at home and wearing masks when leaving the house for essential journeys.
She added that most of the cases were now being driven by people going to work, with several outbreaks at large workplaces in the borough as fewer people worked from home than during the first lockdown.
She also suggested that not enough people were self-isolating properly, possibly because they needed more support.
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The dangerous situation in Halton was underlined by rising hospital admissions, which Ms O’Meara said could continue for another two weeks.
On January 19, the number of Covid-19 patients at Warrington and Halton Hospitals reached 243, its highest point yet, with 28 people being treated in ICU.
Although those numbers had fallen slightly by Friday, they remain worryingly high and local NHS services continue to face severe strain as a result of the new year spike in cases.
