The number of recorded coronavirus cases in Cumbria increased by 181 over the last 24 hours, official figures show.
Public Health England figures show that 8,601 people had been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 by 9am today in Cumbria, up from 8,420 the same time yesterday.
The health body is now including Pillar 2 tests – those carried out by commercial partners – alongside Pillar 1 tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government’s mass testing programme.
The rate of infection in Cumbria now stands at 1,720 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 1,962.
Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 33,470 over the period, to 1,290,195.
Cumbria’s cases were among the 262,069 recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 5,122 over the period.
Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.
Cumbria County Council released its COVID-19 update today. It said there had been 24 deaths in the last week as hospital numbers increase.
As of 10 November, there were 222 people in hospital across Cumbria’s two NHS trusts – 64 in North Cumbria and 158 in Morecambe Bay, up from 159 last week – a 40 per cent increase.
The news has prompted warnings that people must respect national lockdown measures and follow the public health guidance.
Colin Cox, Cumbria’s director of public health, said: “We know that there is a time delay between people being infected and being admitted to hospital, so what we are seeing now is people in hospital, and sadly dying, who were infected before the new lockdown started.
“Unfortunately, we would expect these numbers to continue to increase for a period, despite some welcome signs that infection spread is now slowing in some parts of the county.
“This is putting our hospitals under enormous pressure and it is absolutely essential that everyone sticks to the rules to help reduce transmission.
“We can see from the data for Barrow that the infection rate does come down when everyone takes action and I’d like to recognise the effort that people in Barrow have made to achieve that significant reduction.
“The whole county now needs to follow suit, so we can get infections down to manageable levels and avoid our NHS services being overwhelmed.”
Dr Jon Sturman, clinical director for intensive care for North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, said: “Although, in the north of the county, we are not yet at the levels of hospitalisations we were in the first wave, cases in our hospitals have doubled in the last 10 days.
“This highlights the seriousness of the situation and how important it is that we all act now so that services do not become overwhelmed.
“We don’t want to be in the position of cancelling or suspending other services.
“The virus does not spread itself, we spread it, so we are all responsible for slowing and stopping the spread.
“Washing your hands, wearing a face mask and keeping your distance is our best defence against this horrible virus at the moment.
“I have seen first-hand what a nasty virus this is. It can kill but it can also leave others with lasting debilitating effects.”
This week’s data shows:
- There were 999 new cases in Cumbria (+39 increase, +4 per cent per cent from 960 cases in previous week);
- For the 3rd week in a row Carlisle had the highest number of new cases (+293 new cases);
- Carlisle also had the highest rate of new cases (270 new cases per 100,000 population) and was well above the England average (245 new cases per 100,000 population)
- Numbers of new cases increased steeply in Allerdale and Copeland, with smaller increases in Eden and Carlisle;
- Numbers of new cases in Barrow and South Lakeland decreased from the previous week (by -42 per cent and -8 per cent respectively);
- For the 4th week in a row, the 45-59 age group accounted for the greatest number of new cases in Cumbria.
- Local registrars data shows 24 deaths as a result of COVID-19 in the last seven days.
