Preston back in England’s top 10 Covid infection rate areas as roadmap details show ‘local lockdowns’ not ruled out

People out walking in Avenham and Miller Park during February 24 Pic: Tony Worrall

Preston has moved back into England’s top 10 highest infection rate areas, as the Covid rate continues to fall but only very slightly.

Latest data comes as the government launched a new ‘stay at home’ message blitz and roadmap detail shows ‘local lockdowns’ could be back on the cards for places with new variants or high infection rates.

New confirmed Covid-19 cases for Preston during Wednesday (24 February) were 37.

South Ribble recorded 26 new cases for the same day.

Wyre was up by 11 cases, Fylde by 13, Chorley at 21 cases and Ribble Valley recorded 21 new cases.

Preston’s infection rate is now 236.1 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to February 20, down from 238.9 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to February 13. This puts the city 10th in England’s infection rate table.

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Data for the most recent four days (February 21-24) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

South Ribble’s infection rate is 167.9, down from 198.6 for the same two date periods as Preston.

Wyre’s rate is 107.9, down from 111.5 and Fylde is down to 122.6, from 132.5.

Ribble Valley is now 146.2, down from 151.1 and Chorley is now at 145.5, down from 184.4.

Government launches new ‘stay at home’ drive to keep Covid under control as local lockdowns not ruled out in roadmap detail

Ministers said it was essential that people continued mask-wearing, social distancing and hand washing as restrictions in England began to ease to keep the disease under control.

As a new advertising blitz was launched, England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty said “we must all continue to play our part” in controlling the spread of the virus.

Earlier, the deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam acknowledged that there had been a “slowdown” in the vaccine rollout due to supply fluctuations.

But he insisted he remained confident the targets of giving a first dose to the top nine priority groups by mid-April and to all adults by the end of July will be met.

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And the government’s roadmap shows there may be ‘economic and social restrictions at a local or regional level’ may be ‘reimposed if evidence suggests they are necessary to contain or supress a variant which escapes the vaccine.’

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said during Monday’s roadmap announcement: “We must remain alert to the constant mutations of the virus. Next month we will publish an updated plan for responding to local outbreaks with a range of measures to address variants of concern, including surge PCR testing and enhanced contact tracing.

“We can’t I am afraid rule out re-imposing restrictions at local or regional level if evidence suggests they are necessary to contain or suppress a new variant which escapes the vaccines.”