Number of people with Covid-19 in Sheffield is "vanishingly small" - and the city nowhere near reached the worst case scenario

Director of Public Health Greg Fell says there have been 30,000 cases in the city based on people contacting NHS 111, but these are not test confirmed cases. Those ill enough to be hospitalised is a very small group.

To date 304 people have died, with Covid-19 on the death certificate. Of which, 161 were in hospital and all tested positive. The remainder were in the community, mostly in care homes, and 95 per cent had an underlying health condition.

Mr Fell said: "As of a few days ago, there were 194 people in beds in Sheffield hospitals who have tested positive and throughout all this the NHS has always been well within its capacity to cope.

"The number of people diagnosed and dying every day is very, very low and is in the low single digit numbers now.

"Wave one is clearly coming to an end, the number of new cases and deaths per day is fortunately vanishingly small.

"Sheffield, like everywhere, was nowhere near what was predicted in terms of worst case scenario, we got to 10 per cent of what was predicted and that's good.

"That didn't happen by magic, it was because a lot of people worked really hard, our staff, the police, voluntary and community sector.

"The public respected the guidelines and the NHS moved mountains to ensure it was prepared and lockdown worked."

Mr Fell has warned social distancing will probably remain.

"Far fewer of us than originally anticipated were infected and thus developed immunity so there's a potential for a second and subsequent waves.

"We will learn to live with coronavirus rather than it having gone away. We are still focusing on protecting the vulnerable and keeping people safe but we are reopening Sheffield and getting back to normal as best we can.

"We will reopen very carefully and very slowly. The big thing for me in the future will be test and trace."