Cumbria health director gives verdict amid fears of new Covid wave

Cumbria has a rate of around 100 cases per 100,000 people with hospital admissions for the virus on the rise.

Colin Cox, Cumbria's director of public health, has given an update on the situation in the county.

Scientists are warning that Britain could see a new wave of Covid infections this month, amid fears over new subvariants of the virus.

Mr Cox said with free testing no longer available, the infection rate in the county probably stood at around 150 per 100,000 people.   

But he said: "That's still the lowest case rate we've had for a year.

"That's good.

"The caveat to that it looks like it's starting to rise here rather than continuing to drop - especially in Copeland and Barrow.

"But Cumbria is not unique in this regard."

He said the rise in cases and hospital admission 'may well be' down to new subvariants but also people no longer obeying measures previously enforced.

Mr Cox also described a 'small number' of Covid outbreaks at hospitals in the county.

"The good news is hospital admissions remain at a relatively low level and deaths are still very low," he said.

"This is looking like a virus that's keeping on coming in waves.

"The question is, is it a wave that has much in the way of consequences.

"I don't think people should be too worried about that at the moment ."

 The latest Covid data plotted on a map includes cases in the seven days to June 9.

Some 543 new cases were logged in that period, giving the county an infection rate of 108.6.

The UK’s leading scientists have warned the country will see a new wave of infections this month.

Speaking during a briefing by the Independent Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies, Professor Christina Pagel said: “The new wave is now starting.

“We will have a new wave of infections this month. Now hopefully it won’t be as high as the previous two waves and might be lower. But we can’t count on that and either way we are going to see more people becoming infected.”