Posted on Thursday 31st December 2020
New areas in the county showing spikes in Covid cases have been added to Staffordshire’s community hotspot list.
People living in these Covid hotspots are being urged to make time to get tested – even if they have no symptoms.
Parts of Lichfield and South Staffordshire join the list along with the focus on Cannock Town spreading into a number of nearby Cannock wards. The whole of Newcastle borough and Burton upon Trent town remain classed as hotspot areas.
The average seven-day Covid rate in Staffordshire is currently 267 per 100,000 population, lower than the West Midlands rate of 279 and England’s rate of 387.
Dr Johnny McMahon, Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing, said:
“As Staffordshire enters the New Year in Tier 4 we all have a part to play to stop the spread of the virus, reduce the number of cases and lift us out of these restrictions as rapidly as possible.
“We continue to see a number of hotspot areas across the county where cases are particularly high and we are also seeing a new highly contagious strain of the virus sweeping across England. Around 1 in 3 people who test positive for coronavirus don’t have any symptoms but can still spread it. That’s why we urge everyone in these hotspots to go and get a test so that we can isolate positive cases, and we are laying on more community testing sites to increase capacity across the county.
“While it is great news that a second vaccine has now been approved and will be rolling out from Monday, it will take time for a big enough proportion of the population to be vaccinated and for us all to feel the benefit. So, for now it’s vital we all keep doing out bit to stop the spread, stay at home as much as possible, and follow the Tier 4 rules.”
The Covid-19 Hotspot Areas w/c 4 January are as below:
|
District / borough
|
Hotspots
|
Community testing venue
|
Dates
|
|
Cannock Chase
|
Cannock Town, Heath Hayes East & Wimblebury, Hawks Green and Hagley
|
Norton Canes Community Centre, Brownhills Rd, Norton Canes, Cannock WS11 9SF
|
January 5 and 8
|
|
St Luke’s Church Centre, Church Street, Cannock
WS11 1DE
|
January 6 and 7
|
|
East Staffordshire
|
Whole of Burton Town, Needwood and Rolleston
|
Pirelli Stadium, Princess Way, Burton upon Trent, Burton-on-Trent DE13 0AR
|
January 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
|
|
Lichfield
|
Alrewas & Fradley and Little Aston & Stonall
|
Lichfield City FC, Brownsfield Rd, Eastern Ave, Lichfield, WS13 6AY
|
January 7 and 10
|
|
Newcastle
|
Whole borough
|
Bradwell Lodge Community Centre, Bradwell Lane, Porthill, Newcastle-under-Lyme, ST5 8PS
|
January 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10
|
|
South Staffordshire
|
Wombourne, Himley & Swindon and Trysull & Seisdon
|
Wombourne Library, Church Rd, Wombourne, Wolverhampton WV5 9EZ
|
January 6 and 9
|
|
Stafford
|
None
|
-
|
-
|
|
Staffordshire Moorlands
|
None
|
-
|
-
|
|
Tamworth
|
None
|
-
|
-
|
People in 'hotspot' areas should book a rapid covid test at one of our community sites. Details of sessions this week and how to book can be found here.
If there are no community sessions planned people should book a test via the national portal https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test and choose “my local council has asked me to book a test”. This is even if you feel well and don’t have any symptoms.
If you display any symptoms, including precautionary ones (which can all be found here) book as per normal on the national portal.
A full list of the new restrictions in place for Staffordshire are available at Tier 4: Stay at Home alert level.