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Public urged to keep up the good work as lockdown continues

20/01/2021
This article is more than three years old.

This article is from 20 January 2021 - the situation may change with time.

People in Oxfordshire are being encouraged to keep up the lockdown disciplines that have begun to start driving COVID cases down but remain at much higher levels than before Christmas, with hospitalisations and deaths still on the rise.

For the week ending 15 January 2021, there were 392.1 cases per 100,000 people in Oxfordshire compared to 567.2 the week before.

However, this is still four times higher than figure of 83.7 per 100,000 on 4 December 2020.

We are currently caring for twice the number of COVID-19 patients than at the peak of the first wave in spring 2020.

Our neighbours at Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust are also coping with twice the number of COVID-19 patients and cases than in wave one.

Ansaf Azhar, Oxfordshire County Council's Director for Public Health, said:

"We'd like to reassure people that what they have been doing in abiding by lockdown rules is starting to have an effect. But we are at the start of this task, not the end, and we can't afford to be complacent.

"The significant rise in hospitalisations clearly demonstrates the gravity of the situation, and the pressure on our healthcare system remains intense.

"We thank people for sticking to the rules since lockdown was reintroduced, but we need to continue in this vein over the weeks ahead - to give the vaccination programme the very best foundation to do its job.

"If people stop following the rules and forget about those simple steps of keeping your distance, washing your hands and wearing a face mask, we will undoubtedly see rises again.

"Almost 12 months of dealing with COVID-19 tells us one thing very clearly: this virus relies on human contact to spread. The second we relax, COVID-19 comes back with a bang.

"Not giving the virus the opportunity to spread remains the best thing individuals, families and work colleagues can do to allow the vaccine the best chance to fight COVID-19.

"Please continue to do your bit so that collectively we can stop the spread.

"I would also remind people to get tested if they are showing symptoms, and make sure you self-isolate if that test comes back as a positive. Testing is another weapon in our armoury against this formidable opponent."

Cases in Oxfordshire

With the total number of cases in Oxfordshire standing at 392.1 per 100,000 of the population, the number of cases per district is listed below.

  • Cherwell - 532.2 per 100,000
  • Oxford - 533.9 per 100,000
  • South Oxfordshire - 297.8 per 100,000
  • Vale of White Horse - 281.6 per 100,000
  • West Oxfordshire - 263 per 100,000