Posted: Thu 10th Dec 2020

Newspaper headlines of a “huge hike” in Covid cases in Flintshire – “dramatic and inaccurate” says council chief

News and Info from Deeside, Flintshire, North Wales
This article is old - Published: Thursday, Dec 10th, 2020

The chief executive of Flintshire council has said he can’t “quite understand” the coverage in a local newspaper of Covid infection rates in Flintshire which he has labeled as “inaccurate.”

Colin Everett made the comments during an update to the council’s environment and economy committee on the latest coronavirus situation in Flintshire earlier this week.

On Tuesday, The Flintshire Leader newspaper carried a front page splash which read:

“Huge hike in virus figures in the area” and stated “The health minister says high infection rate in Wrexham and Flintshire is due to community transmission with choices we are making helping spread Covid.”

The story was drawn from the previous days Welsh government press conference and a question posed to health minister Vaughan Gething by our sister site Wrexham.com.

Mr Gething was asked what was driving infection rates in Wrexham, he said: “We actually think this is about community transmission.”

“I hope it’ll lead to people making different choices in the future, because you’re right that we do still see higher rates in Wrexham and Flintshire compared to the rest of North Wales, but we see rates across North Wales as well, in in five out of the six authorities are now above the previous 50 (per 100,000 people) mark per action to be taken.”

“So there isn’t just an issue in North East Wales, even though it’s a more significant issue there, it is still broadly a problem of community transmission taking place right across North Wales.”

In response to the newspaper’s take on the health minister’s comments, Mr Everett said he wanted to “correct” the story “for the public record.”

The council chief executive said: “Most of the North Wales counties are fairly steady, in Flintshire there’s been a gradual increase over the last few days but it’s not a hike.”

“In fact, you’ll see when today’s figures are published (Tuesday) we’ve gone up very slightly overnight, but it’s not significant.”

“And it’s not just the incidence rate you need to look at the number of cases each day it does fluctuate.”

Mr Everett said the figures quoted in the Leader article “are not correct when it refers to the incidence rates per 100,000, it shows Flintshire at 30.1, we’re in fact at 139.7, it’s not accurate and it’s a quite dramatic headline.

In Terms of the infection rates in the county, Mr Everett said most of the positive cases have come from people catching the virus in community settings, “so public behavior remains the concern.”

“We’ve had a number of improvements in closure notices served in Flintshire on hospitality (businesses), “not a large proportion but the concerning number.”

“We are taking our enforcement roles really really seriously and we again appeal for public support.”

Since Mr Everett made his comments on Tuesday, a further 100 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Flintshire, pushing the incidence rate per 100,000 to 175.

16 local authority areas out of 22 have higher rates than Flintshire.

In the latest update from Public Health Wales today, Dr Eleri Davies, said:

“Public Health Wales is concerned at the high levels of Coronavirus in nearly every part of Wales.”

“If we are to have meaningful and safe interactions within the permitted exclusive Christmas ‘bubble’, then everyone should immediately start to limit their interactions with other as much as possible in the lead up to the festive period.”

“This means staying out of other people’s homes, limiting the times and the numbers of people that you meet, maintaining social distancing and hand hygiene, working from home if you can, and self-isolating if you show symptoms of coronavirus or are asked to do so by contact tracers.”

“As the number of cases continues to accelerate in Wales, we would also advise people to consider their plans for Christmas from the perspective of what they ‘should’ do, rather than what they ‘can’ do, in order to protect their families and communities.”

“The festive period is important for people across Wales who want to be with loved ones during the holidays, particularly after a very difficult year, but we would remind everyone that we must each continue to take personal responsibility to limit the spread of the virus and protect our loved ones, particularly if they are vulnerable or extremely vulnerable.”

“For many, this will mean that it isn’t possible to celebrate Christmas in the way you normally would.”

 “Welsh Government has announced that from today, 10 December, Coronavirus regulations relating to self-isolation periods will change in Wales.”

“Under the revised regulations, people who have tested positive or have come in to close contact with someone who has had a positive test for Coronavirus will be required by law to self-isolate for 10 days.  Previously, close contacts were required to self-isolate for 14 days.”

“This change has been made to reflect the latest evidence around transmission of the virus.”

“These regulations will apply retrospectively, so anyone on days 11-14 of self-isolation will be immediately released. This applies to all settings, so will mean that school bubbles can return.”

“This new 10 day requirement also applies to people who are isolating after travelling from a non-exempt country.”

 

 

 

 

 

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