Covid-19: Warwick district fights 'notable' rate rise

Warwick district has seen a "notable rise" in Covid-19 cases, particularly among younger age groups who have not yet been vaccinated, health bosses say.

Its rate of new infections rose from 88.3 per 100,000 people to 285.2 in the seven days up to 24 June - the second highest increase in England.

Emily van de Venter, of Public Health Warwickshire, said the rise was "consistent with the national picture".

She said schools, Warwick University and firms were getting extra support.

Associate director Ms van de Venter said it was working with Public Health England and the NHS to reduce further transmission within the community and "promoting vaccinations to all eligible groups".

The district, which includes Leamington Spa and Kenilworth, saw its number of Covid-19 cases rise from 127 to 410 in a week. Three weeks ago 23 cases were recorded.

Across Warwickshire 66 schools were affected by cases between 21 and 28 June, including 116 pupil cases and 32 among staff, Ms van de Venter said.

Meanwhile, Warwick University, currently has 84 "active cases" of infection, which is where people were in the 10-day isolation period.

This includes, 58 people on its Coventry campus and 26 people in the community.

"After a long period of very few reported Covid-19 cases among our student and staff population, we have seen an increase both on off campus and on campus students," a university spokesman said.

"This clearly matches some of the increases being seen among across England in populations of young people who have only just begun to be able to access vaccinations."

The university was "significantly increasing" PCR testing opportunities on campus for people without symptoms.

Among measures, testing will also take place in Court Street car park in Leamington Spa - which is within a popular student residential area.

Students who have been staying in university accommodation and need to self-isolate can stay on campus without extra costs when their contracts end on Saturday, the spokesman added.

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