Why Sunderland's covid case rate has stayed so high according to public health boss

The number of cases in the city has stagnated at just over 300 cases per 100,000 people for the past few weeks and remains the highest in the region.

The latest figures show that the case rate has actually risen slightly to 322.6 in the seven days to February 4, from a weekly case rate of 297.8 per 100,000 on January 27.

Gerry Taylor, executive director of public health and integrated commissioning at Sunderland City Council has raised concerns that covid could be spreading in workplaces across the city.

She said ‘the number of cases is obviously a concern’ and urged people to only go to work if they really cannot work from home.

Ms Taylor said: “We are seeing transmission in the community within and between families as well as some cases in workplaces so it’s really across the city, and I would urge our residents who have done such a brilliant job over the last year of sticking to the rules, to do everything they can to help get case numbers down by following the guidance.

“For anyone who has to go to go out to work, it’s also really important to follow all of the Covid secure guidance when you are there. That includes during breaks at work and on your way to and from work too as well as following the hands, face, space guidance to keep yourself and your colleagues safe and help bring rates down.”

Sunderland’s case rate is the highest in the seven Tyne and Wear authorities which make up the LA7 by quite some way. The city’s case rate is 322.6, the second highest in the region is North Tyneside’s at 217.4 per 100,000 people.

Sunderland’s higher deprivation levels and dense population could be behind the high number of cases, the public health boss has said.

“We are aware that Sunderland is an area where we are likely to see a higher rate of cases because of the deprivation in some parts of the city,” Ms Taylor explained.

“We also have areas which are densely populated and members of our community with underlying health issues which makes them more vulnerable. All of these factors are likely to impact on figures for the city.

“These figures really reinforce the need for us all to redouble our efforts to reduce the spread of Covid-19. So I’d ask everyone to be particularly careful about following the guidance to stay at home if we can, and only go to work if we really can’t work from home.

“We all need to be particularly cautious and pull together as a city to get the number of cases down.”

Covid case rates per 100,000 people for LA7 council areas

Sunderland - 322.6

North Tyneside - 217.4

County Durham - 211.1

Gateshead - 177.7

South Tyneside - 176.8

Northumberland - 153.5

Newcastle upon Tyne - 145.3

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