Covid-19 infection rates on the rise in Derry and across Northern Ireland
The Public Health Agency has confirmed that there has been an increase in cases and hospitalisations associated with Covid-19 in recent weeks, but insist they remain at ‘relatively low levels’.
Latest data shows that, over a six week period up to June 23, the incidence rate of confirmed cases in Derry & Strabane and in several other council areas had risen.
While the number of officially recorded episodes remains small – rising from 0.7% per 100,000 people in Derry in Strabane to 11.9% over the six weeks - the Public Health Agency (PHA) cautions that “infection episodes detected through clinical testing reveal only a small fraction of the true number of cases, because only a minority of people who have COVID-19 disease are tested”.
A rise in episodes has also been recorded in the Causeway, Coast and Glens, while, over weeks 24 and 25, there were 12 recorded outbreaks in care homes in Northern Ireland.
A spokesperson for the PHA told the Journal: “We are still living with COVID-19 and have been since the height of the pandemic.
“The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes COVID-19, is constantly evolving, with new variants arising frequently. Some of these can become dominant and could cause further waves of infection. There is no evidence at present of any recent changes having resulted in greater transmissibility or more serious infection.
"While there has been an increase in community cases and hospital admissions due to COVID-19 in recent weeks, these remain at relatively low levels.”
The Public Health Agency has urged people to be mindful of the symptoms of to reduce the risk of transmission in light of the rise in the number of cases.
The main symptoms of COVID-19 are currently listed as: a high temperature – feeling hot to touch on your chest or back – or a new, continuous cough, or a loss of or change in sense of smell or taste.
The PHA advised that the risk of catching or passing on COVID-19, flu or other respiratory infections “is greatest when someone who is infected comes into close proximity with other people or shares an enclosed or poorly-ventilated space with them”.
"Therefore,” a spokesperson told the the Journal, “if you have symptoms of a respiratory infection, we would advise you to avoid coming into unnecessary contact with other people to reduce your risk of infecting them, ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ by carrying tissues, using them to catch a cough or sneeze, and disposing of them immediately, and wash your hands thoroughly and regularly with soap and water and use hand sanitiser.
While widespread and routine testing is no longer carried out, those tests that have been conducted show a rise in the incidence rate over recent weeks.
The latest PHA NI-wide data reports, meanwhile, state that the “infection episodes detected through clinical testing reveal only a small fraction of the true number of cases, because only a minority of people who have COVID-19 disease are tested”.
"We continue to monitor these because an increase may indicate increasing incidence or severity,” the report states, adding:
“There has been an increase in the number of new episodes in the current week, with 441 episodes identified in week 25 compared to 409 in the previous week.