COVID UPDATE
Numbers up again
After consistently falling numbers of cases testing positive for Covid-19 across the East Sussex healthcare region during the month of February, the trend has reversed, at least temporarily, during the first half of March. On 2 February 6,540 positive tests were recorded over the previous seven days. By 4 March the equivalent figure had dropped to 2,503. But since then it has climbed again – on 17 March it had risen to 5,213.
East Sussex, which only a few weeks ago was 140th out of 149 English upper tier authorities in recorded infection rates, now stands third.
The number of hospitalised Covid-19 patients in the county has also risen to 109 as of 15 March, more than double the number in early January.
Director of Public Health in East Sussex, Darrell Gale, said: “We should be aware that the virus is still with us and remains a threat to the health of vulnerable people. Even as we move into this new period of living with Covid-19, we still want to keep levels of transmission low.”
However, he admitted that the government’s switch from widespread testing to national surveillance and monitoring means that his public health team may no longer be able to access – or publish – local data beyond the end of this month.
We hope you have enjoyed reading this article. The future of our volunteer led, non-profit publication would be far more secure with the aid of a small donation. You can also support local journalism by becoming a friend of HIP. It only takes a minute and we would be very grateful.
Leave a Reply