Portsmouth City residents are being urged to stick to all Covid-19 rules as new modelling predicts another surge in cases at the end of May.
Based on infection rate trends and the government’s roadmap steps, public health intelligence teams have predicted that Portsmouth and the surrounding areas will see a rise in Coronavirus cases between May and June.
Not as severe as December 2020
It is anticipated this wave, which is also expected to hit the rest of the country, will not be as severe as the one experienced at the end of 2020 and will not see the NHS ‘overwhelmed’ with cases, mainly due to the success of the vaccination programme.
But Helen Atkinson, the city’s public health director, warned that the severity of the surge depended on the behaviour of residents.
She said,
“Our modelling shows a surge in cases expected by the end of May taking into account some of the easing of restrictions.
“As it stands we will still be meeting these dates – such as the rule of six on 29th March – but people must not push rules.”
She added that some people might get ‘complacent’ having been vaccinated.
Don’t be complacent after vaccination
She said,
“The vaccination programme has been such a success and it’s great that so many people have already been vaccinated
“But we have got a lot of people who think that because they’ve had their vaccine it’s over. But it doesn’t mean that you won’t get coronavirus – no vaccine is 100 per cent effective.
“The reality is Covid is not going anywhere, we will have to learn to live with it in the same way we have to live with flu. And like flu I think we will see people having booster vaccines every year to deal with Covid variations.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is part of. Read here to find about more about how that scheme works on the Island. Some alterations and additions may have been made by News OnTheWight. Ed
Image: Artem Kniaz under CC BY 2.0
