August 3, 2021 8.42 am This story is over 34 months old

Lincoln has second highest COVID infection rate in England

It’s been attributed to a nightclub outbreak
| Stock image

Lincoln has the second highest COVID-19 infection rate in England, and the third highest in the UK, according to government data over the last seven days.

Lincoln recorded a rate of 568 cases per 100,000 people, behind Middlesborough (617.8) and Belfast (672.1), according to the latest data on the government’s COVID dashboard.

There were a total of 564 positive cases recorded in Lincoln in the last seven days, attributed to a large outbreak at one of the city’s central nightclubs.

The majority of those are understood to be under 30, many of whom are not fully vaccinated and more susceptible to the virus.

Across the UK, the average rate of infection per 100,000 of the population is 283.8.

Public Health Lincolnshire has said it will not discourage people from going out, and is working with the city council and the unnamed affected nightclub to recover.

Natalie Liddle from Outbreak Management at the health body told BBC Radio Lincolnshire that Lincoln and Lincolnshire have traditionally been behind the national trend. The spike recorded, she added, is an expected lag, exacerbated by the lifting of lockdown.

“We have seen a rise in Lincolnshire following the normal pattern. Nationally those cases rose, as we saw in the region, and then began to come down and we have always tended to lag behind that trend. What we’re seeing is that natural spike that we would normally have, unfortunately for us that has coincided with the fact we have come out of lockdown.

“We’re managing a cluster of outbreaks in and around Lincoln. We have seen a particular increase in cases that are linked to nightclubs and the nighttime economy.”

Lincoln has recorded 9,322 positive cases since the start of the pandemic.