Sunderland 'may be approaching peak' in coronavirus crisis according to health leader

Gillian Gibson, Sunderland City Council’s director of public health, said the city may be ‘approaching the peak of the epidemic’ but voiced caution and said that the figures will need to be observed over a long period of time before it is confirmed.

This comes as a new study, issued by the Centre for Cities confirmed Sunderland has the highest number of cases per population in England, with more than 374 cases per 100,000 population at last count.

Ms Gibson said: “We may be approaching the peak of the epidemic locally, but would need to see this sustained over a number of days to be certain.”

The figures released by NHS England yesterday, Friday, April 24, showed Sunderland, which has a population in excess of 277,962 according to its council, had 1,037 confirmed cases, a rise of 11 from the day before.

Across the North East the total number of people with coronavirus stands at 6,546, and the only local authority in the region to record more cases than Sunderland is County Durham.

The latest figures show that 226 people have so far died of the illness at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust, which runs Sunderland Royal Hospital and South Tyneside District Hospital.

The NHS has said no breakdown is available of how many fatalities have been recorded in each hospital or where the patients were from, and said that the Government is compiling the figures per trust.

Ms Gibson has previously offered an insight into why Sunderland has experienced more cases and deaths than other areas in the region, with the city’s long legacy of health issues, number of smokers, residents who drink more and have an unhealthy diet and a lack of physical activity all said to be contributing factors.

She also said: “The health of our residents is our foremost priority, particularly at this time, and so we are very aware of the high number of cases reported for Sunderland.

“Our population has historically made higher than average use of hospital services and given that the testing strategy in recent weeks has been focused on those in hospital, this could be contributing to finding a greater number of cases.

“We continue to collect and analyse data, working with Public Health England and our NHS partners to improve our understanding.

“Latest data on the number of cases suggests that the rate of increase has slowed.

“The best way of reducing the spread of the virus is for people to continue to stay at home, observe social distancing and to wash their hands regularly.”

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