Celebrate Mother's Day in a Covid-safe way, public health directors urge

'Celebrate Mother’s Day Covid-safely and make sure you don’t give more than flowers and chocolate' is the message from Northamptonshire’s interim Directors of Public Health.

The message comes as numbers rise for the fourth consecutive week and a further 6,020 residents test positive

As cases continue on an upward trajectory and rise by a further 14% this week, Public Health officials are keen to remind local residents to continue to practice Covid-safe behaviours, particularly on Mother’s Day as people will be mixing closely.

They are issuing a reminder to residents to Lateral Flow Test before meeting up, meet outdoors in the sunshine if possible and to remember to wash their hands to protect against the virus.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic many residents will be sadly missing their mothers this Sunday, a day which will be very difficult.

The virus is unfortunately still rapidly circulating in our community, and we must now do all we can to protect our dear ones. Whilst vaccination continues to offer protection, people are still getting sick, being hospitalised and dying.

If you are meeting up this weekend, make sure you take a lateral flow test beforehand and practise good hand hygiene to help reduce the chance of passing Covid-19 on to others.

This week marks two years on from the first lockdown. Since that time 1,811 residents in Northamptonshire have died due to the coronavirus. We would love to say that Covid-19 is no longer a problem, but we are still seeing hospitalisations and this week 12 residents died within 28 days of a positive COVID -19 test. It has not gone away.

With the virus still in circulation it’s vitally important that we do what we can to protect ourselves and those we around us.  Let's all stay Covid-cautious on Mother’s Day and every other day and keep looking out for one another.Sally Burns and John Ashton - Interim Directors of Public Health for West and North Northamptonshire Councils

Covid-19 in the county this week

Analysis of the county’s recent coronavirus cases and rates over the period 14 - 20 March 2022, shows:

• 6,020 residents tested positive for Covid-19 this week. Of this number, 636 were reinfection cases. Last week’s number was 5,300 with 586 reinfection cases. ‘Reinfections’ are a new measurement now appearing in the county’s weekly data surveillance report and are defined as, ‘an infection of COVID- 19 from any of the variants after 90 days from the date of the last positive test.’
• Northamptonshire’s infection rate per 100,000 population is 801.2 – up from last week’s number of 607.1 and similar to the national average of 807.7, which is also up on last week, when it was 544.6
• West Northamptonshire’s rate per 100,000 population is 777.4. The highest rates locally are South Northamptonshire (919.7) and East Northamptonshire (915.1)
• 12 people died in Northamptonshire within 28 days of a positive test, a slight decrease from last week.
• More females than males tested positive for Covid-19 in the last 28 days
• The 30–39-year-old age group had the most positive cases and experienced the most reinfections
• Over the last 4-week period the number of cases amongst people aged 60+ increased by 8.7%, from 3307 to 3596
• The latest data shows a total of 128 COVID-19 patients occupied hospital beds in Northamptonshire on 22 March 2022, which is a 35% increase in the number of Covid-19 patients in the previous week (95 on 15 March 2022).

View the weekly Covid-19 Surveillance Report.