Wigan public health chief urges people to comply with Covid-19 restrictions

Wigan’s infection rate has hovered for several days around the 170 cases per 100,000 residents mark.

This comes after several weeks where the borough saw considerable and rapid reductions from the very high numbers seen at the start of this year.

Prof Ardern said this was not unusual in disease outbreaks and Wigan’s position was not helped by the majority of new cases being the more contagious Kent variation.

And she said the only way to continue bringing numbers down is for people to ensure they are being diligent about obeying public health measures.

Prof Ardern said: “What we are seeing as we come down the epidemic curve is that you get slowing down at particular times. Overall we’re continuing to decline.

“Neighbouring boroughs like St Helens and Salford have got much higher rates than we have, there is higher transmission in Warrington and Bolton, and the social geography of who we mix with as a borough is important.

“The other major factor is that the Kent variant is 70 per cent more transmissible than the original virus and that accounts for 95 per cent of our new infections. There’s also the Liverpool variant which we know is circulating in St Helens.

“That is the challenge that is slowing the rate of decline.

“It is all down to hands, face, space and complying with measures. It’s very important we maintain good respiratory and hand hygiene, wear our masks, comply with social distancing and reduce our social mixing.

“Staying local, and at the moment staying at home, is also very important. We can’t take our foot off the gas.

“The vaccines are clearly life-saving and reducing the risk of serious illness, but what they can’t do is stop you passing the virus on to somebody else.

“Mike Ryan at the World Health Organisation says something very pertinent. Covid-19, like all coronaviruses, is a very simple organism, its sole purpose is to survive.

“Human beings can create the conditions for it to survive or we can create the conditions where we minimise its chances of surviving.”

The highest figures are currently among the working-age population in their 30s and early 40s, a problem Wigan shares with other parts of the North West as well as places in West Midlands, Yorkshire and the East Midlands.

She said: “This is something we are concerned about. We are doing a lot of work with businesses supporting them and doing targeted testing.”

By contrast, Prof Ardern said she was particularly encouraged by a recent Wigan figure of 71.1 cases per 100,000 residents among over-60s, which is lower than the North West and England figures.

She said she had little concern about older age groups, even though heat maps show higher case rates among over-90s in recent days, which she put down to the relatively small numbers of people involved.

She said: “It’s really good that we have vaccinated all of our care home staff and residents with their first dose, which means they’ve already got good protection, and some of that cohort will have got their second dose.

“We’ve also had stories that people coming to get their vaccines was their first trip out of the house in months.

“That shows how compliant they have been with social distancing measures, which is fantastic, and is testament to our Team Wigan and Team Leigh approach.”

The Prime Minister’s roadmap for getting the country out of lockdown begins with schools going back, something which has caused some public concern.

Prof Ardern said the road back to normality had to be “slow and considered” and said that the Easter holidays a fortnight after pupils return on March 8 would give experts the chance to assess the early data on classrooms being fully occupied again.

However, she believed schools this time around are far more prepared and better planning around issues such as testing has been done.

Prof Ardern urged Wiganers who receive a phone call to make an appointment for a jab do so without delay.

She said: “It is safe, it is effective and it will protect you.”

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