Sunderland’s health chief urges residents to stay at home as Covid rates remain among the highest the city has seen

Sunderland’s director of public health is calling to residents across Wearside to stay at home as case rates continue to be among the highest the city has seen during the pandemic.
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Health bosses across Wearside are calling on residents to stay at home as Covid-19 cases rates remain among the highest they have been in the city since the start of the pandemic.

Over the course of a month, cases have gone from 167 cases per 100,000 in the seven days ending on December 4 to 570 cases per 100,000 in the week ending January 4.

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Sunderland’s Executive Director of Public Health and Integrated Commissioning, Gerry Taylor, has said that despite the figures being slightly down on what they were, the high case rates still remain.

Residents across Wearside are being urged to stay at home.Residents across Wearside are being urged to stay at home.
Residents across Wearside are being urged to stay at home.
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She said: "The number of tests coming back positive almost doubled from 6.5 per cent in the first week of December to 12.1 per cent in the first week of January, and we are now seeing infection rates in the city around three times higher than they were at the beginning of December.

"These figures really do spell out the seriousness of the situation. Following the Christmas break, case rates in the city were the highest they have been throughout the whole pandemic so it really is important for people to stay home to keep themselves and their families safe.

"While we’re not seeing the figures reported in other parts of the country, our case rates are still really high and we know that it’s likely those cases will result in more people in hospital in the weeks to come.

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"That’s why, right now, we need to do everything in our power to stop the virus spreading so we don’t see our infection levels rise even further.

"As we know, this virus thrives on social contact so reducing contact with others is vital. If we all play our part and stay at home, we can deny the virus the opportunity to spread further."Councillor Graeme Miller, Leader of Sunderland City Council, said the latest figures showed it was more important than ever to stay at home and follow the rules.

He said: "These latest figures show why it's vital that we all stay home as much as we possibly can to try to get our case numbers down across the city.

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“We have all seen reports of the pressure high cases rates across the country are placing on the NHS and we have to do everything we can to protect it and each other."And right now one of the best ways to do that is to stay home and keep following the rules as people in Sunderland have been doing so brilliantly all along."

You can view all the latest information on the Covid-19 pandemic from Sunderland City Council by clicking here.

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