CUMBRIA S director of public health has said that another lockdown is unlikely following suggestion that the vaccination programme would soften the blow of a third wave of coronavirus. This comes after Professor Neil Ferguson, an expert on the spread of infectious diseases who sits on the government s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag), told the BBC he is increasingly optimistic that another lockdown will not happen. However, he did say that another lockdown could not be completely ruled out . Colin Cox, director of public health for Cumbria echoed this message as he suggested that we are starting to see the impact of the vaccination programme take hold .
JUST 42 new Covid-19 infections were recorded in Cumbria in weekending 30 April, down from 59 the previous week. Overall, the infection rate in the county dropped to eight per 100,000, below half the national and regional average. Some variation continued to be seen across districts, but the overall picture remained very positive. A total of 62,998 Covid-19 tests were carried out. Regular testing remains a key part of defence against a resurgence of the virus. Hospital admissions for Covid-19 remained very low. Colin Cox, Cumbria’s Director of Public Health, said: “I continue to be hugely encouraged by the latest data. We’re on the right track and if this carries on then I fully expect restrictions will be lifted in line with the Government’s roadmap.
Here are the latest weekly figures. Just 42 new COVID-19 infections were recorded in Cumbria in weekending 30 April, down from 59 the previous week. Overall, the infection rate in the county dropped to eight per 100,000, below half the national and regional average. Cumbria’s Director of Public Health, Colin Cox, said: “I continue to be hugely encouraged by the latest data. “We’re on the right track and if this carries on then I fully expect restrictions will be lifted in line with the Government’s roadmap.” Some variation continued to be seen across districts. Mr Cox added: “I of course remain cautious.
Hospital admissions for COVID-19 remained very low.
Colin Cox, Cumbria’s director of public health, said: “I continue to be hugely encouraged by the latest data. We’re on the right track and if this carries on then I fully expect restrictions will be lifted in line with the Government’s roadmap.
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“I of course remain cautious. We’ve seen infection rates at this level during last summer and we all know what happened next. With the continued success of the vaccination programme, however, the context has certainly changed.
“We all just need to keep doing the simple things – washing hands, using masks, maintaining distance, meeting outdoors, getting vaccinated and keep up with the regular testing – and I’m hopeful we can get back to something very close to normal soon.”