Coronavirus: Hull infection rate 'increasing rapidly'

The infection rate in the city is "increasing rapidly", health bosses say

The coronavirus infection rate in Hull is "increasing rapidly" as the local authority discusses a move to tier two, health bosses have warned.

Julia Weldon, the city's director of public health, said the rate had risen "from 17.3 cases per 100,000 of the population to 209.9" in under a month.

She said the council was in talks with the government "about if and when" Hull would become a tier two area.

Ms Weldon has called for everyone in the city to adhere to restrictions.

Hull is currently on medium alert, the lowest tier of the new three-tier lockdown system.

Ms Weldon said: "Hull's rate and that in the wider Yorkshire and Humber region is increasing rapidly.

"We have been clear since the implementation of the Coronavirus tier alert system that we anticipated a move from medium to high."

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Meanwhile, North East Lincolnshire Council has also warned of "tighter restrictions" because it was seeing "significant increases" in confirmed Covid-19 cases across the local authority area.

According to figures from Public Health England, there were 557 cases in the seven days up to and including 24 October, compared to 366 in the previous week, with the rate per 100,000 of the population rising from 229.4 cases to 349.1 in the same period.

The authority said it was "a cause for concern" and the area faced "the risk of tier escalation" if the infection rate continued to increase.