Coronavirus Sheffield: One in 35 tested positive for Covid in city at the start of October, say figures

The figures come at a time when health bosses are concerned over rising levels of the illness across the country.

The statistics are based on the Office for National Statistics modelling, which has calculated the figure for the week to October 3, and which represents 2.85 per cent of the city’s of the population. It ranks the city 33rd highest out of 118 places in England, and fourth in Yorkshire. Officials say rates continue to rise across much of the UK, with an estimated 1.7m people infected in the latest week nationally.York had the highest rate in Yorkshire, with one in 30 having the virus.

Autumn booster vaccines are currently being given across the city to people aged over 50.

Last week, it was revealed that the number of Covid patients in Sheffield’s hospitals has reached its highest level in months, with six patients on ventilators on Wednesday.The number of Covid patients in Sheffield hospitals climbed to 250 as of October 12, with national figures their highest since July. Weekly Sheffield hospital admissions have risen 400 per cent in three weeks, NHS figures show. And the number of patients on ventilators is also climbing. On October 12, there were six patients on ventilators in the city.

The Omicron subvariant BA.5 is still the dominant variant of Covid in the UK, according to the UKHSA, but three other subvariants, BQ.X, BA.2.75.2, and BF.7, seem to be gaining ground.

Professor Martin Michaelis, professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kent, told NationalWorld that these three subvariants also seem to be “better at bypassing pre-existing immunity from vaccination and previous infections than BA.5”. He said: “It is likely that they already contribute to the increase in Covid-19 cases that we are detecting at the moment.”

Dr Susan Hopkins, chief medical advisor at the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said Covid-19 cases and hospitalisation rates were “at their highest level in months”. She said: “Make sure you have any Covid-19 vaccinations you are eligible for and avoid contact with others if you feel unwell or have symptoms of a respiratory infection."

COVID: ‘Covid vaccine could have saved my mum – but I know people who still refuse it’, says Sheffield NHS fundraiser

NEWS: More than a dozen pubs lost in Sheffield since pandemic, report confirms