From top to bottom: North East Lincolnshire coronavirus rates fall “considerably”

North East Lincolnshire has gone from the authority with the highest infection rates in the Yorkshire and Humber area to the second lowest in three weeks.

The latest epidemiology report for the authority said the COVID-19 infection rate had “fallen considerably in recent weeks… and is now significantly below the national average”.

However, rates have flattened in the last week.

The current weekly infection rate in the borough stands at 119 per 100,000, compared to the England average of 284.2.

“North East Lincolnshire saw a massive increase in the rate of new infections during October and early November with our rate at one point being the highest in the Yorkshire and Humber region and the second highest in the country,” said the report.

“Since then we have seen an equally substantial reduction in our infection rate which is now the second lowest in the Yorkshire and Humber region.”

North East Lincolnshire has remained in tier three following the second national lockdown – the toughest restrictions available until last Saturday when the Prime Minister Brought in a new tier to deal with a new strain of coronavirus.

The report notes concerns that the new variant of COVID “will eventually spread in our area too”.

Up until December 21, there had been 5,779 cases in North East Lincolnshire, an increase of 166 on the previous week.

The report says the majority of cases are between the age of 21-60, with a higher number in females specifically.

“Whilst this imbalance may partially reflect higher numbers of women working in high risk caring occupations it may also be that women are more likely to get tested when symptomatic or that testing is more readily accessible in the health and care sector,” said the report.

Numbers of cases being treated at the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital have also decreased from their peak of 90 on November 23 to 47 on December 21.

Up to December 4, North East Lincolnshire had more than 170 excess deaths.

There have been 189 deaths associated with COVID-19 in North East Lincolnshire since October, of which 162 were North East Lincolnshire residents.

In total 162 deaths of North East Lincolnshire residents have occurred since September with 105 being males and 57 females.