Record number of Cumbria Covid cases spark concerns

Cumbria's public health boss says Covid infection levels are "sky-high" in the county

Cumbria's public health boss says he expects the next few weeks to be "very difficult" as the county sees record levels of Covid infections.

There were more than 2,000 cases a day at the end of December, over the former daily high of 660 in January 2021.

There are concerns the number of NHS and social care staff self isolating will affect services.

Director of public health Colin Cox said infection rates were causing substantial pressures.

Mr Cox said before Christmas there were four people in hospital with Covid but now there were 70

"Our previous daily record was 660 cases in January last year and we've so far had two days at the end of December where case numbers were over 2,000 cases a day," Mr Cox said.

"In the last week we've seen case numbers of 10,000 cases in a week and that will still go up because there's partial data within that so the case rate is higher than we've ever seen it."

Mr Cox is concerned about when infection levels will stop rising, and has urged people to take care of themselves as the NHS faces additional difficulties.

He said: "Cases of infection are causing very substantial pressures on public services in particular the NHS and social care where rates of people off sick are now more than 10%,

"If you end up in hospital with something else and there aren't the staff to deal with it, it will cause problems."

He added that while the majority of people who test positive will not be severely ill, the numbers of people with Covid in hospital are increasing.

Before Christmas there were four people in hospital with Covid but this figure had increased to 70 on Monday, he said.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust, which serves south Cumbria, has declared a critical incident amid staff shortages and rising pressures due to Covid-19.