Omicron Warning for Bridlington & East Riding

Omicron cases will likely number in the hundreds locally within weeks with five cases now confirmed, according to East Riding Council’s public health lead.

It comes as the authority announce the reopening of a vaccination centre at Beverley Racecourse from early next week.

The council’s Public Health Director Andy Kingdom said businesses should put back up plans in place for staff shortages which could grind parts of the economy to a halt.

He added that although the official number of confirmed cases linked to the Omicron variant was five, the number was likely 10 times higher and would rise rapidly.

It comes as 1,670 coronavirus cases were recorded in the East Riding between Tuesday, December 7 and Monday, December 13, up from 1,491 the previous week.

The rolling infection rate rose from 434 to 487 cases per 100,000 people during the same period.

Mr Kingdom said:

“We’re expecting a big increase in coronavirus cases before the New Year.

“An analogy would be that we’re in the first few minutes before a storm starts.

“Cases had been dropping before and we wanted to play that out, but now it’s like the weather’s been fine then suddenly the temperature drops and we’re now starting to get a bit of drizzle.

“It’s not something people should be scared about because we have the vaccine, we’re in a much better place now than we were this time last year.

“But there’s a big wave coming our way and we’re about to feel the impact of that, we need to be ready for it.

“The trouble with Omicron is that it case numbers double very quickly, its genetic make up means its easier to catch and having two vaccine doses doesn’t stop transmissions as much as they did for the Delta variant.

“So the pool of people who can become infected is growing.

“Looking at what’s happening in London, the variant’s spreading mostly among 17 to 29 year olds, the group which tends to socialise most.

“They then pass it on to friends, colleagues and relatives and it fuels rises in wider communities, we’re expecting that to happen in Yorkshire and the Humber too.

“The problem is that Omicron is spreading so quickly it’s outpacing our ability to vaccinate people, which is why the government has taken such a serious stance on it and restrictions have been reintroduced.

“Case numbers here will get into the hundreds pretty soon, it’ll be like having a year’s worth of rain in a few days.

“Then the issue is that more people will be going into hospital as staff have to go off and isolate because they’re testing positive.

“And that’ll be the case across society, we could be in a situation where there aren’t enough drivers to deliver things, not enough teachers to teach and so on.

“That’s what public health officials are worried about and it’s what we’re trying to stop, we need to spread the spike out so it all doesn’t hit us at once.

“We’re holding our breath to see how much effect the booster has, it will absolutely protect the vulnerable and will reduce the chance of passing coronavirus on for everyone else.

“All studies going on at the moment seem to suggest that but we don’t know for sure until it’s been circulating in the population.

“But at the moment the number one thing people can do is get their booster jab.

“If you haven’t had your first or second dose yet please go and get it, the offer is always there, no questions asked.

“People seem to be taking the new restrictions seriously as well which is good, we need them to.

“We don’t have weeks to get ready like we’ve had before previous surges, we’re talking about days.

“To use the storm analogy again, we’re at the moment before where we make sure all the windows are shut and we’ve moved everything inside.

“And I’d say to businesses, don’t talk about your contingency plans, put them in place, start thinking about how your business will operate with substantial amounts of staff off at once.

“People might have to look again at their Christmas plans and scale them back if lots of people are testing positive.

“Also if you know someone who wants to get a vaccine but can’t them help them, get yourself and them vaccinated for Christmas."