By KLTV Newsdesk –
Kirklees’ Covid-19 infection rate remains high and is continuing to rise. Hospitalisations and deaths caused by the virus currently remain low, but the council is urging residents to do everything they can to help.
Cases and Hospitalisations
As reported in recent weeks, Kirklees’ infection rate is one of the highest in the country and is rising.
118 people per 100,000 in Kirklees testing positive for Covid-19 over the last seven days, the borough’s infection rate has increased by nine per cent since last week.
The national average is 32 people per 100,000.
Alongside the rollout of the vaccine, deaths and hospitalisations have been steadily falling and are remaining at a much lower level.
Sadly, there was one death in Kirklees hospitals related to Covid-19, which is the same as the previous week.
There were ten people admitted to those hospitals in that time, down from 12 the previous week.
Testing
Cases of the ‘Delta’ Covid-19 variant first detected in India have been identified in Kirklees.
PCR surge testing and an enhanced testing offer recently got underway in the borough in order to identify any potential cases of the variant as quickly as possible so people can safely isolate and doctors can learn more about how it’s spreading in the community.
Kirklees Council has said they will be announcing an expansion of the programme to different areas in Kirklees next week
A number of temporary pop-up vaccination clinics have also been opening as part of a pilot programme.
These pop-ups are initially targeting areas that have the lowest take up of the vaccine, higher rates of infection and a population at greater risk of serious illness.
Lateral Flow testing is also available for everyone who doesn’t have symptoms.
Vaccinations
At the time of writing, over 244,000 local people have had their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 167,000 of those have received their second.
Anyone aged 30 and over in Kirklees is being urged to book their vaccination now.
‘Opportunity’
Rachel Spencer-Henshall, Strategic Director for Public Health at Kirklees Council, said: “Our Covid-19 infection rate is high and it’s continuing to rise. Thankfully we’re not currently seeing this impact our numbers of deaths and hospital admission caused by Covid-19 but if we continue to see our infections increase, this may very quickly change.
“We have an opportunity right now to prevent our situation from worsening and that’s why we’ve put our surge testing and increased vaccine plan in place.
“I’m urging everyone to play their part so we can reduce our infection rate and get Kirklees safely through the roadmap out of lockdown.
“Get a PCR test as part of our increased testing and surge testing offer and help us detect and isolate positive cases so we can prevent further infection.
“Every vaccination matters. The more people that take it, the safer we all are and the sooner we can get back to normality.
“It’s really important, that even when you have received your vaccine, that you continue to do the basics: hands, face, space as well as letting plenty of fresh air indoors.
“Getting a twice-weekly lateral flow test is a really effective way we can all prevent the spread of the virus. This is really important even if you have been vaccinated.
“Thank you all for playing your part.”