Cornwall needs 'triple effort' to combat Covid-19 spike

Hospitality venues in places like St Ives have had to shut as staff self-isolate

People in Cornwall are being asked to "triple" their efforts to help halt the rise of Covid-19 cases.

Infections in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly had risen to 71 in 100,000 people by 12 June, figures show.

That is up from eight in 100,000 people the week before.

Dr Ruth Goldstein, from Cornwall Council's public health department, said the majority of cases were the Delta variant and warned that the numbers were expected to rise.

"It is not a situation that Cornwall has found itself in in the last 18 months," she said.

Dr Goldstein said public health officials had started to see a rise around 10 days ago among people aged 16 to 25, the Local Democracy Reporting Service reported.

"Initially it started around the Penryn campus [of the University of Exeter]," she said.

"That combined with the half-term break, where we have people from Cornwall going up country to see family and friends and we had visitors coming to Cornwall."

Dr Goldstein said venues were being responsible by making sure staff self-isolated

Dr Goldstein added that Cornwall had a higher number of restaurants and bars per person compared to other parts of the country, which could also be contributing.

A number of hospitality venues have had to close in places such as St Ives, Falmouth and Newquay in recent days due to staff self-isolating.

Dr Goldstein said venues were being responsible by testing staff and isolating them where necessary.

She said people needed to get their jabs and it was hoped that vaccination would open those aged 18 and over in the "next few days".

She urged people to get tested for Covid-19 twice a week using lateral flow tests which are available for free.

"We know we will have a lot of people coming into Cornwall, which we want and is fantastic for our businesses," she said.

"But this situation we are in now, we all have to triple our efforts if we are going to stop this rise in cases."