The Director of Public Health will provide a general update including a focus on school re-openings and vaccinations.
Minutes:
The Chair returned to the running order of the agenda.
The Director of Public Health provided a general update on the Covid 19 situation which included a focus on the impact of school re-openings and the vaccination programme.
Local Leicester picture showed hospital case numbers at 426 per 100,000 as of today, compared to the national picture of 308 cases per 100,000. Figures were relatively stable over past month and although Leicester was above average there had not been a sharp spike in cases.
In terms of a breakdown by age:
· Over 60’s age group was seeing higher levels of hospitalisation/mortality and this was being monitored. Three weeks ago, over 60’s was at 308 cases per 100,000 but that figure was coming down and was now at 211 per 100,000 which was higher than national but falling at rate of 9%.
· Those aged 17-24yrs (Uni age) 298 cases per 100,000 and below national at 395 per 100,000. It was noted that large numbers of students were due to return soon and public health officers were working closely with the universities to manage that. It was also noted that the rate of cases within this age group had been consistently below the national average.
A national area of focus was on the age group of 11-15 year olds. Leicester schools had returned earlier than elsewhere across the country and the rate of cases was 1053 per 100,000 this was higher than the national average of 704. It was felt the earlier return had impacted those figures and although it seemed a large number on a relative scale this was not as big a spike as it would seem, but it was being watched closely.
In terms of public health, officers remain focused on trying to maintain and keep hospitals functioning, and in the last week there had been a drop in hospital admissions from Covid. Whilst admission from Covid was not the main driver at moment the pressure on hospitals remained quite acute. With the start of other winter illnesses and respiratory illnesses, particularly in paediatrics, officers were seeing a lot of anxiety around those illnesses and presence of similar symptoms to Covid. The situation was very different from last year where there were lots of restrictions in place.
There had been a general increase in the number of deaths from Covid: 4 deaths 4 weeks ago; 6 deaths 3 weeks ago; 8 deaths last week and 9 deaths this week. This was a slow rise and gradual creep up which showed the vaccine was doing its job but there was concern that the number of deaths was going up and whether that was exponential.
In terms of overall positive cases there had been a significant dip around May 2021 to 139 cases per 100,000 and Leicester was going in right direction however since then and with the easing of restrictions there had been a gradual increase in cases, and now akin to 1500 new cases per 100,000 per week.
Regarding the number of deaths and what would normally be expected between Jan to March the figures were higher in the City than normal, April to July were below or around what would expect to see, with overall 1078 deaths in Leicester up to 31st July 2021 being Covid related.
In relation to the vaccination programme overall coverage of those over 50 years receiving 2 doses was at 83% and a single dose at 87%; of those over 60, 61% had received 2 doses and 70% a single dose but within those numbers there was huge variation around levels of coverage.
The number of vaccinations being conducted was falling and a lot of work around key messages was being done to get people to take vaccinations and there was more to do to be more effective at that. Across the City it was thought there could be as many as 100,000 that could be unvaccinated, but it was difficult to provide an exact figure as people were coming and going from the City. In context with the national picture:- over 50 year olds 89% of England population had received 2 doses, and in Leicester that was 83.3%. Leicester was not an outlier though and compared to Nottingham, Coventry, Birmingham we were middle of pack; 18-49 year olds 60% nationally had received 2 doses while in Leicester that was 52.2% and towards the top of comparators like Coventry and Birmingham that were around 45%
It was noted that the main areas with low uptake of the vaccination were student areas, the City Centre, West End and also areas such as Spinney Hills, Charnwood and Newfoundpool that had a low uptake in the population age group of 18-49 years.
The ensuing discussion included the following comments:
Referring to the announcement of a Covid booster combined with Flu vaccination the Director of Public Health advised that Clinical Commissioning Groups were starting the Covid booster programme next week using the Pfizer booster and there was confidence that there were sufficient supplies however there were some issues in terms of Flu vaccine supply. The vaccination programmes could not be delayed on basis of supply of another and those over 50 should therefore receive an offer of Covid booster and then wait for Flu vaccination to become available.
In relation to hospital admissions for Covid and whether those were vaccinated or not it was advised that ¾ of the population were vaccinated and ¾ of those in hospital were unvaccinated. 80% of those in ICU last week were unvaccinated so it was still important to make point that the vaccine mitigates the risk of more serious illness from Covid.
The Director of Public Health commented that in terms of guidance the stance is clear, Covid is not over and public health officers continue to ask people to take precautions, e.g. wear masks in buildings when moving around, albeit against the backdrop of challenge that everywhere else restrictions are being lifted. Regarding reliance on P3 masks those do have to be fit tested to ensure they are 100% protective.
The Chair commented that Covid was still clearly a worrying situation and thanked the Director of Public Health for the update.
AGREED:
That a further update on Covid 19 be brought to a future meeting.