Calderdale issue COVID-19 warning
Thursday, 19 November 2020
From Councillor Tim Swift, Calderdale Council's Leader and Deborah Harkins, Director of Public Health at Calderdale Council
We're writing to you because we need your help. We have reached a critical point in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Firstly we want to thank you for all that you are doing to keep yourself and our community safe. We know how difficult the period of local restrictions and national lockdown has been, but these sacrifices are a really important part of what is needed to reduce COVID-19 in Calderdale.
However, it is important that we are honest about the situation. The rates of infection have increased in recent weeks. Calderdale is ranked 19th in England for COVID-19, with an infection rate of 488 cases per 100,000. This is the highest the rate has ever been in Calderdale. We expect that it will continue to rise in the coming days.
Sadly, we are seeing large increases in the number of people in hospital with COVID-19 including many under the age of 60, and this is putting significant pressure on the NHS locally. At least 24 Calderdale residents have died from COVID-19 so far in the second wave.
The situation is urgent and we all need to act now if the national lockdown is to have the impact that is needed. We must do everything we can to follow the lockdown rules if we are going to save lives, protect our NHS and social care services and avoid severe restrictions over the Christmas period.
We all need to play our part in reducing the spread of the virus. There are three big things that we can all do to protect ourselves, our loved ones and our communities:
- Limit contact with other people to the absolute minimum
- Wear a face covering if we have to go indoors where there are other people we don't live with, such as when food shopping
- Stay at home without visitors and complete the full isolation period if we have symptoms of COVID-19 or a positive test result, or if we have been in contact with someone who has
If you need more information or support to isolate, please visit www.calderdale.gov.uk/coronavirus.
We never fail to be inspired by the kindness and resilience of Calderdale's communities during this pandemic. We all know what to do to bring the infection rate down. We've done it before and we can do it again.
Councillor Tim Swift, Calderdale Council's Leader
Deborah Harkins, Director of Public Health at Calderdale Council
HebWeb Covid-19 info
The HebWeb posts the latest local figures every day, usually between 4pm and 6pm, on the home page. More information, news and charts can be found in the HebWeb Covid-19 section