South Holland’s council leader is unsure of what has caused the district’s high infection rate and ranking in the UK, but has a “number of possibilities”.
Cllr Lord Gary Porter has offered some explanation into the potential causes, such as a high manual workforce in food production in the district, high school attendance, greater testing capacity and large care home outbreaks.
This comes as South Holland finds itself with the highest infection rate in Greater Lincolnshire and is ranked 76th highest in the UK, according to the latest government data.
“I think there are a number of possibilities, but there is no empirical evidence available to me to support them. We have a very high manual workforce in food production so this will play some part.
“We also have a high level of school attendance and this will also play a part. We also have a far greater testing capacity than we did previously.”
He added: “Additionally, we are still getting a couple of large care home outbreaks and if you look at Peterborough, all of the district councils that join [South Holland] have fairly high numbers.”
Greater Lincolnshire’s infection rates from Feb 1 to Feb 7. | Data: Gov UK / Table: James Mayer for The Lincolnite
On Friday, South Holland took the top spot in Greater Lincolnshire with the highest infection rate, followed by South Kesteven.
Over the weekend, South Holland remained at the top spot and increased its infection rate from 259.9 to 275.7 per 100,000 of the population.
From Friday to Sunday, it climbed national ranks from 124th to 76th in the country.
However, the higher ranking is also partly due to other districts across the UK falling rapidly and South Holland increasing slightly.
Last month, there were COVID-19 outbreaks with up to 100 cases at two South Holland care homes, one being a children’s care home.
The Lincolnite welcomes your views. All comments are reactively-moderated and must obey the house rules. Please stay on topic and be respectful of other readers.
Schools and universities in Lincolnshire recognise the potential benefits, but also the concerns, over the use of artificial intelligence.
The results of the government’s first ever Call for Evidence on Artificial Intelligence in Education’ report were published on Tuesday, November 28. It was open for 10 weeks and closed on August 23 this year, with 567 responses received during that time. Most respondents were “broadly optimistic” about the use of GenAI in education.
Almost two months on from Network Rail stating it had implemented “new cleaning regimes” for its railway bridge on Brayford Wharf East, the same concerns of graffiti, dirt and moss growth are continuing — and we are no clearer on how regularly the bridge is cleaned.
The bridge, which opened in 2019 in a bid to improve public safety on the railway crossing, is regularly used by many commuters and residents in Lincoln, but it has been the topic of a cleanliness discussion for many months now.
Whatsapp
