'Good news' as coronavirus rate levels off in Barnsley

The case rate is 496 per 100,000, down from almost 570, according to Dr Andy Snell, public health consultant at Barnsley Hospital.

He said:"The current seven day case rate per 100,000 people in Barnsley is just below 500. It reached nearly 570, a week or so ago, so that's good news in the sense of the steep rise we were seeing through September and October has slowed.

"I don't think we should call it a reduction at the moment, I think we should call it a plateau and we are to see yet to see what happens with tier three and then into national lockdown and the impact of that.

"We shouldn't compare the scale of the peak now compared to back in April, because we're testing more people

"Coronavirus specifically has always, through this whole year, hit the most deprived a lot more than the least deprived. We have a responsibility to protect everyone in that population.

"It's not all bleak, we are seeing a levelling off in Barnsley.

"This disease is likely to fluctuate and I think this wave through winter will be the worst."

Alicia Marcroft, head of public health at Barnsley Council, said testing availability had increased recently, and the turnaround time for a result was around 39 hours, with 40 per cent of test results coming back within 24 hours.

Emma White, public health principal at Barnsley Council, said that care homes currently have enough PPE, and PPE and infection control training had been provided for staff and managers of care homes in the borough.

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