Covid rates in Luton hit record high but deaths below previous peaks

The majority of cases in Luton were the Omicron variant the director of public health said

The Covid-19 case rate in Luton has reached record levels but deaths and hospitalisations were below previous peaks, a meeting heard.

The health and social care review group at Luton Borough Council was told hospital admissions have risen.

But the proportion compared to the case rate was much lower than other waves of Covid-19.

The authority's director of public health, Sally Cartwright, said the "majority of cases" were Omicron.

In the week to 9 January, the case rate in Luton was 1,663 per 100,000 people, a 4% week-on-week fall.

Ms Cartwright told the meeting the rate was "really quite high", the Local Democracy Report Service said.

But she said the latest data showed the rates of infection in Luton and in the East was "slowing and plateauing now".

'Transmission within hospital'

She said: "The good news is we're not seeing the increase in death rate and hospital admissions we've seen at other stages and compared to the last two peaks.

"We're seeing the booster vaccine provides good protection against symptomatic illness and hospital admissions with this variant.

"There's still a lot of transmission, but it's definitely showing to be against hospitalisation."

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Chief executive of the Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, David Carter, said the area was in "the peak" of the Omicron wave.

He said: "We're seeing increasing levels of transmission within the hospital. Fortunately, this variant doesn't appear to be as harmful as previous ones."

The trust, which runs two hospitals, has about "800 staff off at the moment and about half of those are related to Covid," he added.