We can’t afford to forget about Covid yet
Confirmed cases of Covid Brighton & Hove increased again last week but rates in our city are still lower than the South East and England as a whole.
In the seven days up to 4 June, we had 82 confirmed new Covid-19 cases in Brighton & Hove which is a 44% increase on the previous week and equivalent to a weekly rate of 28 per 100,000 residents.
That’s lower than the South East rate of 32 per 100,000 and England, which was 48 per 100,000.
Rates among the 60+ age group, who have been able to get both vaccinations, are very low. The largest rise was among young people who have not had the opportunity to get vaccinated yet.
Now that people in their twenties can book their first jab, Nicola Rosenberg, Public Health Consultant with Brighton & Hove City Council, asks everyone to help the vaccination programme do its work.
She said:
“It’s great that the NHS vaccination programme has now reached people in their twenties. We can see from the very low rates in people over sixty, who’ve been able to get both jobs now, how well the vaccines are at beating Covid.
“Everyone who signed up for their first vaccination will get good protection - typically two weeks after the jab. But they’ll still be vulnerable for another couple of months because you need two doses to get full benefit. It’s still possible to get Covid between jabs, although the symptoms will be less severe.
“We need to give the NHS vaccination programme enough time to do its work.
“To see our city buzzing in the sun again, it could be easy to imagine the pandemic is over. But it isn’t – not yet.
“To keep Brighton & Hove safe everyone needs to keep up the Covid safety measures all the time. Especially where people get close together, indoors and in busy streets, garden parties, BBQs and after school-clubs, as well as places like shops, bars and restaurants.
“With more hot weather forecast for the weekend, I can imagine how tempting it might be to forget all about Covid - but we can’t afford to do that yet.
“By now we all know what we need do to stop the virus spreading. We just need to remember to keep at it, and to encourage each other to keep going too.”
