Rotherham on top 10 list for highest estimates of Covid-19 in past week

A list published by researchers who have developed a Covid-19 symptom tracking app showing that Rotherham is third in the country for regions which had the highest estimates of symptomatic Covid-19 in the past week.
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Researchers at King's College in London developed an app for users to report on their health and symptoms, allowing researchers to predict who has the virus track Covid-19 infections across the UK.

The research, led by Dr Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology, published a Covid-19 symptom study watch list with the top 10 local authorities with the highest estimates of symptomatic Covid-19 in the past week, and Rotherham was number three on the list.

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The latest figures were based on the data from 13,451 swab tests done between 5 to 18 July, and suggests that the number of daily new cases in the UK have remained flat since last week. However, the data is beginning to show signs of a north-south divide forming.

The new analysis found that the majority of regions on the watch list are in the North of England, suggesting that it is now these areas of the north that the country needs to pay special attention to.

Rotherham was third on the list, which was topped by Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire, followed by Wrexham.

Of 2,467 app users in Rotherham, 0.24 per cent had symptomatic Covid-19.

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Sarah Champion, Rotherham's MP, said the estimate is "deeply concerning".

Ms Champion said: “It is deeply concerning to see Rotherham having such highly estimated cases of Covid-1919. Whilst it is welcomed that we now have testing stations, the capacity needs to be increased and both the Council and NHS must be given additional resources to cope with demand.”

Rotherham director of public health, Teresa Roche said: “Our local outbreak control llan is based on the official Government statistics rather than apps which are only used by a very limited number of people. Rotherham has experienced higher than average infection rates which is why we introduced an intelligence-led testing strategy to enable us to test more people and identify more clearly where the virus is. As a result of additional testing we fully expected that the prevalence of the disease registering in the official figures would increase.

“Although transmission rates remain higher than average, they are not at a level experienced in other areas of the country which has led to the introduction of additional local lockdown measures.

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“We do need to people to remain vigilant and to maintain social distancing, wear face coverings when required, get tested if they have symptoms and to wash their hands often if we are to reduce the local rate of infection.”