Covid: Case rates falling in Suffolk but numbers still high

Suffolk became an enhanced response area for five weeks after concern about rising cases in October

There is "light at the end of the tunnel for Covid-19" in Suffolk but people need to play their part, the county's public health chief has said,

The county is an enhanced response area (ERA) and receives additional support from the government after concern about rising cases in October.

A Local Outbreak Engagement Board meeting heard rates were falling but numbers were still high.

Public health director, Stuart Keeble, said there is "further to go on this".

Current rates in Suffolk are 335.6 cases per 100,000 people, which is below the 362.7 regional average and the England average of 346.5, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Mr Keeble said it had "still got some areas with higher rates" and that Ipswich was "still an area of concern", at 46th highest out of 350 local authority areas.

Parts of Bury St Edmunds, Newmarket and Haverhill are also displaying slightly higher numbers.

Hospital admissions are at their highest point since March but there is a "downward curve".

Mr Keeble asked people to continue being responsible around face masks and hand washing.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we have got to do quite a lot of work to get through that tunnel to get to the end. We need to be working hard to navigate that," he said.

"Mixing of households - we have still not seen return back to original level, and also that intergenerational mix.

"That is the concern leading up to Christmas, that it will bring different parts of families and communities together, so that will impact on future cases and hospital admissions."