"It's not over yet, keep yourself safe": Sheffield health director's warning as hospitalisations rise

Greg Fell, Sheffield’s director of public health, has warned people to be careful in spite of the lockdown lifting, as hospitalisations are on the rise in Sheffield.
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Mr Fell dismissed headlines in national news highlighting the decline in positive cases in recent weeks, pointing out that this data simply reflects the fact that the number of tests being done is also declining.

The decline in cases comes after schools have broken up. This means the mass daily testing of pupils in those institutions has ended, consequently reducing the number both of positive and negative test results.

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The public health director said: “It’s not over yet, Covid is still here so please keep yourself safe. It is still infecting people across the city and it doesn’t care who it infects.

Greg Fell is warning Sheffield residents that the pandemic is not over yetGreg Fell is warning Sheffield residents that the pandemic is not over yet
Greg Fell is warning Sheffield residents that the pandemic is not over yet

“We’re living more normally than we have been at any point in the last 18 months and in an ordinary day, each of us meets around five times more people than we did during lockdown. As a result we have seen a significant rise in cases over the last few weeks.

“Our more recent case data looked like rates were beginning to go down but this was because of a dramatic drop in the numbers of people getting tested. The rate at which patients are being admitted to hospital with Covid is continuing to rise.

“At the moment, discharges are keeping pace, so the number of people in hospital appears to be levelling off slightly. However, younger people are being admitted and some are very ill.

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“Following the lifting of government restrictions, more places are open, fewer rules are in place and with many people in more settings, as expected, cases are increasing rapidly.

“Whilst people are still getting infected the virus will continue to spread unless we each try to reduce its chances. Get both doses of the vaccine if you haven’t already, wear a face covering in crowded places, and if you have symptoms book a test at a testing site and isolate until you get your result.

"Remember that it is still the law to isolate for 10 days if you are told to by NHS Track and Trace. If you don’t have symptoms remember that you can test yourself regularly with lateral flow tests that you can order for free.”

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