Lincolnshire hospital staff absences have halved since December, but Covid-19 patient numbers are still higher than in the first wave.

Stamford MP Gareth Davies has issued an update on progress with treating the pandemic, including the vaccination roll-out, both locally and nationally.

The update follows briefings Mr Davies had this week with local and national NHS healthcare leaders, also offering data and statistics obtained from several separate briefings he has received.

National update

England has an infection rate of 270 per 100,000 people (1 February), 18,529 have tested positive today bringing the cumulative number of cases in England to 3,408,879 (4 February). The overall picture is a good one, with a downward trend in infection for all ages.

This is however, not uniform across the country and there are still wide variations across the regions.

We are also seeing a gradual fall in admission rates to hospitals in England, as well as the number of people being treated in hospital for COVID-19. As at 27 January, there were just over 25,000 people with COVID-19 in hospital, this is down, but still far higher than the peak in the first wave of the virus outbreak (c.17,000).

The roll out of the vaccine continues to go well with over 10.9 million vaccines administered so far across the United Kingdom – to over 10.4 million people. This is equivalent to almost 1 in 5 adults in the UK (at 4 February).

We've now vaccinated almost 9 in 10 over 80s in the UK, almost 9 in 10 over 75s and over half of people in their 70s. The UK has administered more vaccine doses than Italy, France, Germany and Spain combined. In the last five days, the UK has administered more vaccines than France has in total.

On 3 February researchers from the University of Oxford published analysis in 'Preprints with The Lancet' which demonstrates that the Oxford University/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine offers protection of 76% up to 12 weeks after a single vaccination dose, with further data supporting a 4-12 week dosing interval. Analyses of PCR positive swabs in UK population suggests vaccine may have substantial effect on transmission of the virus with 67% reduction in positive swabs among those vaccinated.

On Monday 1 February, the UK Government signed a deal for a further 40 million doses of Valneva's promising vaccine candidate. The latest deal will bolster long-term vaccine production in Scotland and brings the total UK vaccine portfolio to 407 million doses over the next two years.

The decision to purchase 40 million extra doses is based on the UK's strategy to take a wide approach, using different technologies and viral targets to ensure the UK has the best chance of securing access to successful vaccines as quickly as possible. It will also give the UK future flexibility should we need to revaccinate any of the population.

Local update

We have a county-wide rate of 199 per 100,000. South Kesteven district has a rate of 253.5 per 100,000. You can access data for our district here.

ULHT currently have 110 COVID positive patients in local hospital beds. The overall trend over the past weeks is showing a decline, however current levels are still far higher than the peak of the first wave in April 2020.

We are currently seeing a 7% NHS staff absence rate, which is down in recent weeks. In December it was 14% so it has come down significantly, which is excellent news.

Vaccination roll-out in our county is going extremely well with 127,606 local people now vaccinated. This includes 93% of over 80-year-olds, for example. The small minority of over 80s yet to be vaccinated are primarily housebound people or people who it has proven to be very difficult to reach.

The Each Primary Care Network Local Vaccination Site has a roving service capability. These are currently focussed on the over 80s housebound population, and over 80s with significant mobility or transport difficulties.

On Monday 25 January, Lincolnshire NHS was able to confirm that all residents in Care Homes for Older Adults across the county had received their vaccination.

You can find more information on the Coronavirus response on the dedicated web page on his web site here. This contains links to Government support information and the latest guidance.