September 27, 2021 10.03 am This story is over 30 months old

COVID cases rise 10% week-on-week in Greater Lincolnshire

A slight uptick in cases
| Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite

There were 4,510 cases of coronavirus confirmed in Greater Lincolnshire last week, as a BBC Panorama programme says people are being “forced into private healthcare” due to long waiting lists.

Government figures over the weekend showed 834 new cases in Lincolnshire, 147 in North East Lincolnshire and 279 in North Lincolnshire. The total weekly figure so far is 10.22% higher than last week’s 4,092.

Five further deaths of Greater Lincolnshire residents were confirmed in the government figures with three in Lincolnshire and one each in North and North East Lincolnshire. It means the weekly total is 21- equal to last week’s figure.

NHS figures, however, are not updated over the weekend, leaving the total at 14 – two higher than last week’s 12.

Data shared with BBC Panorama has shown waiting lists across the UK have grown by 50% in the most deprived parts of England since the start of the pandemic. In the most affluent areas it is nearly 35%.

There are fears people will be forced to go private to get treatment.

Lincolnshire’s coronavirus cases up to September 24. | Image: GOV.uk

Anita Charlesworth, chief economist at the Health Foundation think tank told the BBC: “The big worry about long waits leading people to have to go private is that it will increase inequalities, but also that many people will be forced to make awful trade-offs over their finances in order to be able to get access to the care that they need when they need it.

“And that goes against every grain of why we set up the health service,” she said.

In Lincolnshire, in June, around 65,000 people were reportedly waiting for treatment in Lincolnshire’s hospitals, with more than 3,800 in the queue for more than a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As a comparison, in March 2020, just seven people waited more than 52 weeks for treatment. The figure was then at 3,856.

Coronavirus data for Greater Lincolnshire on Monday, September 27

112,329 cases (up 1,260)

  • 73,665 in Lincolnshire (up 834)
  • 18,006 in North Lincolnshire (up 279)
  • 20,668 in North East Lincolnshire (up 147)

2,337 deaths (up five)

  • 1,711 from Lincolnshire (up three)
  • 317 from North Lincolnshire (up one)
  • 309 from North East Lincolnshire (up one)

of which 1,404 hospital deaths (no change)

  • 861 at United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust (no change)
  • 44 at Lincolnshire Community Health Service hospitals (no change)
  • 1 at Lincolnshire Partnership Foundation Trust (no change)
  • 498 in Northern Lincolnshire (NLAG) (no change)
DATA SOURCE — FIGURES CORRECT AT THE TIME OF THE LATEST UPDATE. POSTCODE DATA INCLUDES DEATHS NOT IN HEALTHCARE FACILITIES OR IN HOSPITALS OUTSIDE AUTHORITY BOUNDARIES.