The popular area with one of the highest rates of Covid in Bristol - and what people there say about it

Walking around St George on a sunny day you’d be hard pressed to know we are still in a Covid pandemic.

People are walking up and down the bustling Church Road with buggies and dogs on leads while parents stand talking outside St. George Park’s The Bake Box community cafe with a hot drink in hand.

Yet the neighbourhood had the 12th highest infection rate for Covid cases out of Bristol’s 54 areas in the week up to October 27, with 59 new cases - the equivalent of 679 cases per 100,000 people.

That is up from 621 new cases per 100,000 people the week before, and the second highest weekly figure for the whole of 2021.

It is one of many areas in the city seeing in surge of new cases, which has prompted health leaders to call on people to wear facemasks and take extra precautions ahead of a ‘very challenging’ winter.

BristolWorld visited St George to speak to shop owners and the public to find out how they are dealing with a surge in cases.

Along Church Road, inside baby baby boutique Born in Bristol, owners George and Lisa have not made mask-wearing mandatory for customers as they believe it should be down to them.

“We still get people wearing a mask,” George starts, before Lisa says “but not as many”.

Asking them about their personal mask wearing habits, they say they no longer wear them indoors or in covered areas because they have been vaccinated.

And they believe it is time to get on with things while ‘still being careful, social distancing and not taking unnecessary risks’.

In their shop they have taken safety measures like having a screen up by the till and putting out hand sanitiser.

A bit further down the road is the popular Indian fusion restaurant Pipal Leaf, run by Kirp Singh and his family.

Kirp can’t personally wear a mask due to health reasons but says he is doing everything he can to encourage others to do so when they can.

Wanting to make the customer feel safe Kirp says: “We don’t give away middle tables so we keep more than a metre distance between tables.

“The last thing we want to do is make them sit somewhere they don’t feel comfortable.”

He adds: “If the Government closes [restaurants] down again a lot of businesses will be in big trouble so it’s in our best interest to keep everyone safe and covid free.”

At jewelry shop Secka, also in Church Road, owner Momodou Secka says: “Some people want to wear masks, some don’t.”

He adds that because the Government now allows people to wear masks indoors he does not feel he can personally enforce any rule on them when working alone in his shop.

“I can’t tell people what to do,” he says, “I think the government should change the rule. The shopkeepers cannot do much about it.”

Back up the road and to the park are local residents Jo Deasey and Lydia Herbert, who meet up every Tuesday morning for a catch-up.

Speaking to them about their safety precautions, Jo, who is a teacher, says she is still wearing a mask inside shops and encourages all children to wash their hands.

“We still wear masks in school in public places,” Jo adds.

Lydia, who is a frequent user of public transport, still wears a mask onboard but has noticed ‘the decline in other people wearing [them]’.

She also still wears a mask in shops but admits that having had Covid a couple of months ago she is ‘more lax with it all’.

Her attitude is that she’s probably covered for the next few months. “I do worry if that’s true though as I don’t know how evidence-based that is,” Lydia adds.

Lydia is among at least 71 per cent of people aged over 16 in the city who have had both doses of the Covid vaccination, according to Bristol City Council.

The city council last week released a statement on behalf of health leaders encouraging residents to take pre-cautions and be ‘kind and empathetic’ as case numbers rose.

The statement said: “We are all in this together, and must support one another through what is likely to be another tough winter.”