Fears for tougher Sheffield Covid restrictions after health boss’s bleak household warning

Speaking on Friday, 25 September, Greg Fell said preventing household transmission will be a central part of the Council’s efforts to slow the spread of the virus in the coming months as colder weather forces more people indoors.

In those areas where the infection rate is highest, a ban on household mixing has been introduced. In Blackpool, where restrictions were tightened last week, the town’s director of Public Health said a lot of the transmission there had been within households.

Mr Fell said: “Most of the infections are happening in household clusters, not really big workplace or school or care home outbreak, with one or two exceptions.

"So, looking forward, we have seen and we are going to see a continued rise in cases, mainly single cases and fairly diffused across the whole of Sheffield.”

A second wave of Covid-19 infections in the city is likely to be on the way, he added, with cases expected to continue to rise nationally.

Mr Fell said: "We haven’t yet got to anything that looks like exponential growth, we haven’t yet got to what you would characterise as wave two.

"That will likely come, it’ll be unlikely that that will not happen so we as a city have an opportunity to change that path.”

There are now five testing sites in Sheffield for people with symptoms as the local authority looks to maximise testing capacity. Despite confusion over the rules, Mr Fell urged people to ‘follow the basics’ on hand-washing, social distancing and wearing a face covering.

He added: "We are seeking to basically avoid and impose lockdown because we think that will do harm to the economy but equally, Government have demonstrated that they are willing to go there and have done that in a lot of places in northern England.

"So, it’s up to all of us to act as responsibly as we can over the coming weeks and months.”

Mr Fell said while hospital admissions in Sheffield from Covid-19 remain “small”, “it’s certainly not trivial”. Three coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in the city in the seven days to Monday (29 September).