Let’s Suppress Covid-19 Infections in Wolverhampton.

Councillor Phil Bateman said today “Lets just remind ourselves of what the last 9 months have been like here in Wednesfield and the City of Wolverhampton.

Our lives have been disrupted by Covid -19. Many families in our City have seen their lifestyle changed, lost jobs, and cruelly lost friends and family, as we have taken to battling Covid-19 and the Corona Virus pandemic.

Here is just a reminder when the first case was confirmed in our City.

The first case of COVID-19 in Wolverhampton was confirmed on 07 March 2020. Since then there have been 8,366 confirmed cases in the city (as of 3 December 2020) .

The COVID-19 infection rate in our city on 30 November 2020 is 251.37 cases per 100,000 people per week between 24th November and 30 November 2020.

This compares to 330.33 cases per 100,000 people per week between 17 November and 23 November 2020. The current highest rate in the UK is 556.4 per 100,000 in Medway and the lowest is 23.6 per 100,000 in Cornwall and Isles of Scilly.

Wolverhampton had the third highest infection rate per 100,000 people per week in the West Midlands between 21 November and 27 November 2020 (259.0), after Dudley (305.7) and Sandwell (267.3). The County of Herefordshire currently has the lowest rate (72.1).

Now I know that we have learned a lot about Covid-19 since it burst into our lives in March. Wednesfield North residents have in the main as has the overall City. Done much to protect our local NHS and the people who are striving hard to deliver health care for our community. Masks are being worn, and there has been an awareness of the restrictions that have been put in place to suppress the spread of the virus.

So my message this morning as we enter the Christmas period, is please continue following the guidance that is being offered. Also please use the new testing arrangements that are being put in place across Wolverhampton.

Currently, through national analysis of death certification, the number of recorded COVID-19 deaths up to 3 November (latest available) in Wolverhampton was 359 .

That means that 359 families will have been struck by the pain of losing a loved one. Of these, 70.5% (253) were deaths in a hospital setting, 20.9% (75) in a care home, 4.5% (16) at home, 2.5% (9) in a hospice, 1.4% (5) in other communal establishments and 0.3% (<5) were not defined.

Please lets enter into Christmas 2020 following all the guidance, and doing all we can to prevent any further up swing of this pandemic.”

Phil Bateman

Phil Bateman is Married to Mary and lives in Wednesfield North. He was a long serving local politician having served previously on the now defunct West Midlands County Council... read more

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