Number of new Covid-19 cases falling in Sheffield but still ‘too high for comfort’

Greg Fell updated Sheffield Council’s adult social care scrutiny committee on the city’s progress with tackling the virus at a meeting last night.

Mr Fell said: “For South Yorkshire and for Sheffield, Sheffield is slightly ahead of this curve, the numbers of new cases per week are settling and actually going down at the moment. However, they are settling at a much higher rate than we saw in the summer, and far too high for comfort.

“There has been a significant increase in the number of deaths, sadly, and there will be more to come – there is nothing we can do about that now – but, again, that will slow.

“Overall, the epidemiology is settling and going in the right direction. It’s probably too soon to say wave two is over, I don’t think that will be the case for quite some considerable time to come but it is plateauing in lots of places.

“There is still growth in lots of other parts of the country, such as the South West, South East and London is growing quite quickly and they are behind us in the look and feel of the epidemic curve.

“We are a week in from the introduction of the national lockdown, it is less restrictive than it was first time round – most importantly education, schools and universities are fully open. As a result there is more social mixing so we shouldn’t expect the same level of suppression of the illness we saw last time round. But we will see a reduction in disease spread.”

He added: “I’ve said before and I’ll say again, this stands or falls based on the behaviour and choices of 580,000 individuals with the caveat that some individuals have more choice than others. The second caveat is people are fed up, I’m fed up and I expect everyone else in Sheffield is fed up.

“The majority of people are observing the rules, and what people do no doubt makes a difference – we’ll never be able to measure it but what people do makes a difference.”

READ MORE:

- £500,000 worth of improvements at a Sheffield leisure centre and park

- Sheffield’s new poet laureate aims to encourage next generation of writers

- Plans to extend Sheffield mosque to make more space for community youth project

Thank you to all who support local journalism with a digital or print subscription to The Star. The events of 2020 mean trusted, local journalism is more reliant than ever on your support. We couldn't do it without you. Subscribe here www.thestar.co.uk/subscriptions so we can keep campaigning on your behalf. Stay safe.