Covid: Moray surge now 'well under control'

The Covid outbreak in Moray is now "well under control" and the incident management team dealing with it has been closed, NHS Grampian has said.

The area had been kept in level three over concerns about its infection rate.

However it moved to level two on Saturday, after dropping back below the threshold of 50 cases per 100,000 people.

NHS Grampian said the reaction from the public was the reason the surge had been successfully tackled.

Testing increased six-fold during the local outbreak, and has now returned to normal.

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The local health team said there had been a "sustained drop" in the level of the virus in Moray over the past two weeks.

Earlier this month, the area had the highest level of Covid in the country, with more than 100 cases per 100,000 and test positivity was above 3%.

Those numbers have now dropped to about 17 cases per 100,000 and 0.9% of tests coming back positive. The region is now seeing its lowest rates since before Christmas.

'Extraordinary turnaround'

Chris Littlejohn, deputy director of public health at NHS Grampian, described the drop in case rates as an "incredibly positive story".

He said: "We've not seen a decline like this without a full lockdown before, we've only seen this kind of turnaround with a full lockdown. How the public responded and acted was the reason that happened.

"We saw with this outbreak in Moray how quickly things can escalate and how quickly it can affect the level system.

"However, the good news here is that the turnaround we have seen in Moray has been extraordinary and that is wholly down to residents being willing to work with us, come forward for extra testing, vaccinations and follow guidelines."

Elgin was said to have been a particular hotspot

He explained: "People coming forward to be tested for the first time increased six-fold, 80% of 40-49 years olds have now had their first dose of the vaccine, for those aged 30-39 it's 68.7% and for 18-29 year olds it's 70.2%. Those figures are incredible and show the way the public has worked with us."

He added that no-one in Grampian could afford to become complacent in future.

Elgin and Keith were said to have been been among particular hotspots, along with areas such as Lossiemouth and Aberlour.

Level two restrictions mean pubs and restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol inside until 22:30, and limited numbers of people can socialise indoors.

Social distancing during meetings indoors or in private gardens is no longer required and people can travel to and from areas in the same or a lower level.

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