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Suffolk: Rising Covid cases in over-60s a "key area of concern"

Getty Images Carer wearing PPE and holding hands with woman in care homeGetty Images
Covid had increased across Suffolk with 25% of cases to be found in care homes

Covid cases among over-60s has increased at a "concerning" rate, according to Suffolk's public health director.

Stuart Keeble said about 25% of cases in the over-60s were in care homes.

He said the infection had more than doubled in the last week locally, moving up the age groups from children to the elderly.

"That makes sense from both background spread and the mixing we saw over Christmas and New Year," he added.

"The key bit for me which is the area of concern is the increase in the over-60s rate," he told health, council and police leaders at a meeting of the local outbreak engagement board.

Getty Images A man and a woman in festive clothing celebrate Christmas Day in Cardiff, WalesGetty Images
Mixing over Christmas had led to more cases of Covid among people over 60, Suffolk Public Health said

Mr Keeble said he believed the figures also contained a higher proportion of people who are more vulnerable due to underlying health conditions.

He stressed the county was "not in the same place" as last winter, but it would still be "extremely challenging", the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

'Challenging'

According to Suffolk public health figures, case rates among those aged 90 and over had tripled between Christmas Day and 30 December.

The council confirmed outbreaks among the over-60s had been reported in at least 83 care settings - most of them care homes.

"It is challenging out there for the care sector," Mr Keeble said.

"We have seen a significant increase in care homes over the last month. About 300 staff are infected, but if we think about the background spread that shouldn't be surprising."

Suffolk has a population of 807,031 people of which 68.4% are eligible for a booster vaccination.

So far more that 83% of those eligible had received a booster dose, Suffolk Public Health confirmed.

Suffolk's current Covid-19 infection rate is at 1,360.7 per 100,000 people amid the wave of the Omicron variant.

The England average is 1,646.2 positive per 100,000.

According to data, positive cases from PCR tests showed an average of 25% compared to around 5% before the latest wave.

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