Parents asked “please avoid car-sharing and please don’t hang around at the school gates” in latest detailed council update

Wrexham.com for people living in or visiting the Wrexham area

This article is old - Published: Saturday, Apr 10th, 2021

The latest local update has been published by Wrexham Council, detailing the precise local area figures and a return of the local data tables.

If you want to check the figures where you live, visit the Public Health Wales data dashboard and click on the ‘MSOA’ tab, and select Wrexham on the right hand side to get a zoomed in map.

In another positive update the data shows only one sub-area (Wrexham West) has over the 51 case per 100k benchmark, with the council adding “None has more than 6 cases in the week; in fact, all but that one have 0 to 3 cases. There are, therefore, no ‘hotspots’.” The number of cases locally in the seven day window is recorded as 44 across Wrexham up to the 4th.

The council, who run the Test Trace Protect system for Wrexham and therefore have the data on positive cases and their locations and spread say household transmission is still the driver locally.

They added, “After months of strict lockdown, it feels great to be able to do more of the things we used to (and probably took for granted). But we need to stay safe and do things carefully. We want to thank everyone in Wrexham for their efforts in fighting the virus. It’s been a hard winter and it’s good that summer is now approaching and we can all feel more positive. But we need to keep working together to keep Wrexham safe.”

On schools specifically they said, “Schools in Wrexham and the rest of Wales will reopen to all children – both primary and secondary – this Monday, April 12. Some schools will have teacher training days next week, but will let parents know if this is the case.

“If you’re a parent, please avoid car-sharing, and please don’t hang around at the school gates. These two simple things can make a big difference.”

With retail reopening on Monday, they added, “When you come into town to support local businesses, please stick to social distancing, use hand sanitiser in shops, and wear a face mask unless you’re exempt.”

The full council update from yesterday is copied in full below, as usual any bolding or italics is from Wrexham Council:

Covid-19: WCBC Weekly Briefing Note, 9^th April 2021

COMMUNICATIONS

Please share – on social media and directly with your communities – this document, the bilingual GIFs sent to you via email and the following link to the Council’s pubic briefing note: : https://news.wrexham.gov.uk/covid-19-briefing-note-lets-go-back-to-schools-and-shops-safely/

KEY MESSAGES

The reduction in infection rates has slowed and we will remain in lockdown for some weeks, so let’s all continue to do everything we can to see the back of this thing.

Anyone in Priority Groups 1-5 (those aged 65 or over or the clinically extremely vulnerable) who has not yet had a vaccination, should call 03000 840004 now.

DATA ON THE VIRUS

TABLE 1: Covid-19 in the County Borough as a whole compared to other Councils in North Wales

Comment

The rate of infection fell rapidly from mid-January to mid-February, then stuck at around 65/100,000 population for two weeks, before halving in a week. Since then it has reduced further, but, on a daily basis, has been fluctuating between 20 and 25/100k. The latest 7-day rate is 22/100k, up from 21 a week ago, but down from 30 two weeks ago. Positivity is 2.4%, up from 2.0% a week ago, but down from 2.8% two weeks ago. The data will have been affected by the Easter break.

These are the lowest figures since September 2020 before the second wave of infections began, and lower than the old Welsh Government ‘trigger points’ for a lockdown and local measures. However, Wrexham has got comparatively worse, having risen to 7^th in Wales for the rate per 100k, compared to 17^th last week, and 6^th for positivity, compared to 12^th last week.

Local household transmission of the ‘UK/Kent’ variant remains the main driver of the disease and there are no new cases of the other ‘variants of concern’.

Hospital admissions and deaths in North Wales due to Covid-19, thankfully, continue to fall.

TABLE 2: Covid-19 in the Sub-Areas of Wrexham (18 MSOA areas used by PHW in its Tableau)

Comment

Only one sub-area of the County Borough has more than 51/100,000 population (Wrexham West – 72). This is a considerable improvement on even a few weeks ago, meaning that the rest are below the old Welsh Government lockdown/local measures trigger points. None has more than 6 cases in the week; in fact, all but that one have 0 to 3 cases. There are, therefore, no ‘hotspots’.

Only 1 is in the worst decile (10%) in Wales (which is low at 52.4/100k):

Wrexham West – 72/100k (6 cases) compared to less than 24 last week

17 have seen their lowest rates since 20^th October 2020 (when PHW started publishing these data) compared to 13 both last week and two weeks ago.

13 are in the lowest decile in Wales.

MANAGING THE VIRUS

Overall – The Level-4 Alert lockdown, in place since 20 December 2020, has significantly reduced the rate of infection. It remains in place, with some easing, including bringing forward by one week of some of the proposed relaxations. The First Minister will formally review the measures in 2 weeks.

Education – All school pupils will be back at school full time for face to face teaching from Monday

Other Council Services – the Council is continuing to provide all of its services, as publicised on our website, other than public access to Council buildings.

The Vaccination Programme

Nearly 470,000 doses have been administered in North Wales, with nearly 78,000 in Wrexham.

Vaccine rollout continues through the Mass and Local Vaccination Centres and GP practices.

Anyone in Priority Groups 1-5 (those aged 65 and over or the clinically extremely vulnerable) who has not yet had a vaccination, should call the Covid-19 Vaccination Contact Centre on 03000 840004 (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm & Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 1pm) to book an appointment.

The vast majority of vaccination appointments for the remainder of people in Priority Groups 5-9 (those aged 50 and over and those aged 16-70 in an at-risk group) have been sent in the post.

The Health Board has also sent a significant number of invitations to people in their 40s as they look to offer vaccinations to the remainder of the adult population in reverse age order before the end of July. Everyone in this group is advised to be patient and not to contact their GP or the Covid-19 Vaccination Contact Centre unless they need to cancel or amend an existing appointment.

Information and statistics on vaccinations can be found via the following links:

Wales – https://phw.nhs.wales/topics/immunisation-and-vaccines/covid-19-vaccination-information/about-the-vaccine

North Wales: https://bcuhb.nhs.wales/covid-19/covid-19-vaccination-information/ and Vaccinations statistics – Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (nhs.wales)