With new cases of Covid-19 rising sharply this week, Councillor Phélim Mac Cafferty, Leader of Brighton & Hove City Council, urges everyone in the city to help bring infections down while the vaccination programme reaches all adults.
He said:
“Yesterday we learned that confirmed new cases of Covid-19 leapt up by 160% in the past week. Today, our rate per hundred thousand of the population has overtaken the rest of the country. It now stands at nearly 81 per hundred thousand here in Brighton & Hove compared with just over 75 per hundred thousand in England as a whole.
“Let’s take that in – our rates of Covid-19 here in Brighton & Hove now exceed the rest of England.
"If you look closely at the data on our website, you’ll see the majority of new cases are among teenagers and young people under the age of 25. . I must emphasise that I am not drawing attention to this to blame these young people who have, in many ways, had to sacrifice more than any other age group during the pandemic so far.
“Most of these young people haven’t been able to get vaccinated yet. The older groups who have been double vaccinated had the lowest rates of Covid. So it’s wonderful news that from today, everyone over the age of 18 can get their jab and I strongly urge everyone to do so without delay.
“Until everyone can take up the vaccination offer, the rest of us who’ve had our first or second jabs must continue to play our part to support each other and keep the city safe. Many of these new cases of Covid were first detected by symptom-free tests that you can do at home, known as lateral flow tests. Those affected have been self-isolating to break the chain of infection and protect our community.
“While many in our population have been vaccinated this does not apply to all of us. Extreme cases can still occur in younger age groups as well as ongoing symptoms known as ‘long Covid’, so it’s vital we keep transmission down.
“We have brought down cases before and we can do it again. I know many of us are tired but it’s vital that we stop Covid among those who are not vaccinated and do our bit to suppress the more infectious Delta variant. None of us want to go back to stricter restrictions, or see loved ones in hospital. The pandemic isn’t over yet and we can all still play our part to bring infections down.”
