Falling student Covid cases in Sheffield mask a rise 'way above the red line' in general population

Sheffield's health chief says a fall in coronavirus cases among students masks a worrying rise in the general population.
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Tier 3 restrictions come into force on Saturday across South Yorkshire and Sheffield's director of public health Greg Fell says there is no doubt the tough measures are needed.

Cases are falling in Sheffield - ten days ago the city had 470 cases per 100,000, it's now 415. But Mr Fell said the student population had masked an underlying problem in the city.

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He told a meeting: "The trend over the past two weeks is downwards which is good news.

Greg Fell, Sheffield's director of public health.Greg Fell, Sheffield's director of public health.
Greg Fell, Sheffield's director of public health.

"In South Yorkshire the trend is going upwards in all parts apart from Sheffield. Sheffield is going downwards because new infections in 18 to 24 years ago are down.

"The demographics in Sheffield are skewed massively by the student population. That's causing the overall rate in Sheffield to come down. This is in part good news but there are caveats.

"It's easy but wrong to blame all of this on students. We opened universities and enabled young people to have further education.

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"We focus a lot of attention on 18 to 25 year olds and this was the cohort which was the highest because we welcomed tens of thousands of students back to Sheffield so the result was inevitable and has been seen in all the university towns.

"If you take the population as a whole and take students out of that, the numbers are still going up and are way above the red line which was an area of intervention."

Mr Fell said students were "largely quite well" but coronavirus was rising in other age groups. The average age of a case a month ago was 30 and this week it was 36.

"Students have masked the underlying epidemiology. The student population is beginning to cool down but the 65-plus age cohort is that group most likely to be very severely ill and that is most concerning.

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"There is a stabilising of numbers overall but if you take students out we are in a pretty similar position to the rest of South Yorkshire and what's worrying is the rise in those aged 65-plus."

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.