Bristol neighbouring district records highest weekly Covid-19 infection rate in the country

A neighbouring authority district to Bristol has recorded the highest weekly rate of new infections in the UK, figures show.

Bath and North East Somerset (BANES) Council, which includes Keynsham, saw 1,722 new cases in the week ending October 15, which is a rate of 877 cases per 100,000 people.

That rate is higher than in North Somerset, 640 cases per 100,000 people, South Gloucestershire, 584 cases per 100,000 people, and Bristol, 521 cases per 100,000 people.

It is also the highest in the country, ahead of Somerset West and Taunton, 873 cases per 100,000 people over the week.

The spike in new cases in BANES, and the surrounding area, comes after it emerged 43,000 people, mostly from the South West, were given incorrect PCR rest results from a laboratory in Wolverhampton.

BANES council’s director of public health, Becky Reynolds, said as the issue was resolved it was expected that the rate of cases would rise.

However, she said: “There is so much virus circulating at the moment and we need everyone’s help to stop the increase in rates we are seeing in Bath and North East Somerset.

“We are especially appealing to teenagers, parents and carers to be alert to the virus and follow the simple steps we all need to take if we have symptoms or are a close contact of someone with symptoms.”

Councillor Dine Romero, BANES cabinet member for children and young people, communities and culture, added: “We have all worked so hard over the past 20 months to keep each other safe and it is very concerning now to see the figures rising so rapidly.

“I am urging people to get back to the basics of mask wearing, hand washing and regular testing to try and bring these numbers down. “

The Government is coming under increasing pressure to act now to stem a rising tide of Covid infections ahead of the winter months, amid warnings about waning immunity.

Doctors from the British Medical Association have accused ministers of being “wilfully negligent” after the Health Secretary Sajid Javid ruled out immediately implementing the Government’s so-called Plan B.

But ministers may be considering introducing some Plan B measures in councils with ‘enduring transmission’, according to the i newspaper, to boost testing capacity and support faster vaccination.