For many in Cumbria, it is now time to live with COVID.
But for others, coronavirus is still a huge worry. With the latest data indicating that about one in every 100 people has the virus in the county, should we be worried?
Cumbria Crack spoke to Cumbria’s director of public health Colin Cox about the latest situation.
“Cases have been rising since the end of February and that is no surprise as that was when the final restrictions were eased and the messaging seemed to go out that everything was over,” said Mr Cox.
“We are up to 1,000 cases per 100,000 population per week and that is probably a significant underestimate when you consider testing is not happening to the same extent (as in the past).
“We have high numbers of cases out there and that is showing itself in care homes and schools.”
This has seen a number of schools forced to close their doors in recent weeks.
“The reasons schools are closing is because they don’t have enough staff to operate safely, it’s not due to public health advice,” said Mr Cox.
Care homes are also beginning to feel the effects of rising case numbers.
“In care homes, there is a lot of it (COVID) as staff are picking it up as there is a lot of it around in the county as a whole,” Mr Cox said.
“We are seeing a lot of cases that are not currently translating into hospitalisations and deaths, which is the good news in all of this.
“People who are vaccinated, for the vast majority Omicron won’t be enough to require hospital treatment. But if I asked people who I know who have had it recently it knocked them for six, and I don’t think they would describe it as a mild illness. But they haven’t needed treatment.”
Is immunity from vaccines still effective?
Vaccines continue to be the best form of defence when it comes to Omicron, despite the fact that it is a milder variant of the disease.
“We know that the immunity given by vaccines is not perfect but in the first instance, it is very good at stopping people needing hospital treatment and great at preventing serious illness,” said Mr Cox.
“But that starts to wear off after a while which is why the spring booster campaign is starting which will start on the 4th of April.
“At the moment it is just for the older and more vulnerable but I’m not sure whether it will be rolled out further in the future.”
Should measures go further?
The government announced an end to all legal coronavirus restrictions last month, proclaiming that the UK must now learn to “live with and manage the virus”.
“I think the question is whether you go for legal measures. But if you have a communicable disease like COVID, you should be at home to avoid spreading it anyway,” said Mr Cox.
“I’d be worried if people weren’t following the guidance around staying at home if they have COVID. It is no longer a legal requirement but it is still important that you get tested while you can and if you are positive, self-isolate.
“I would also recommend wearing a face-covering in crowded indoor spaces.”
Should people still be worried about COVID?
Despite an end to legal restrictions, for many it is proving more difficult to live with coronavirus.
“There is a concern amongst some people but there is a balance to be struck,” said Mr Cox.
“I know people are worried about it – some don’t need to be worried about it.
“People who are vaccinated, even those who were classed as vulnerable before, the majority will be fine if they get COVID.
“There are still people out there who are vulnerable, so I am worried that the changes to the testing regime will mean we have less of an idea about how bad things are.
“We won’t know after the start of April.”
Should we be ending widespread free testing and what impact will it have?
The decision to call an end to widespread free testing has been met with anger by many in the UK.
“I think we have to acknowledge that the current testing system is frankly unsustainable, so it is no surprise the government is trying to do something to address this,” said Mr Cox.
“Personally I’d like to see wider access to testing in place, particularly for people with symptoms.
“I’m worried it is a cliff edge of going from tests being fully available to no testing available.”
Will we still be able to track the virus?
One of the main concerns raised about the end to widespread testing is around the ability to keep track of how the virus is behaving.
“We will still be able to look at it from a national and regional level,” said Mr Cox.
“We have the Office for National Statistics survey which works nationally and that will be continuing. That is good.
“But we won’t have anything like the local breakdown that we have had in the past. We will continue to analyse whatever data we can.
“Care home testing will continue so we can use that surveillance data, but if COVID pops up in other areas we will be much more limited after April 1.
“It is certainly possible that we would see a delay in picking up information about new variants as we won’t be testing as many people.”
