People urged to use symptom-free testing sites in St Helens as Covid rates soar

Daily rates of Covid-19 cases in St Helens have again soared to record highs in recent days, with 615 recorded on December 27 in St Helens Borough, making regular testing more vital than ever before.

Six days earlier the public health reported its previous highest figure of 347, the council announced last week.

It is not clear whether the huge increase is a result of delays in people being tested because of Christmas or an indicator of the virus' rapid spread, which is believed to be driven by the Omicron variant.

Nationally, there are reports Omicron is a milder disease than that seen earlier in the pandemic, although there remains concerns that because it is highly transmissible the amount of infection will lead to more people in hospital and disruption to public services because of staff absences.

The Guardian reported this week how leading immunologist Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University and the government’s life sciences adviser, said that although hospital admissions had increased in recent weeks as Omicron spreads, the disease “appears to be less severe and many people spend a relatively short time in hospital”.

But a number of scientists have criticised the government’s decision not to introduce further Covid restrictions in England before New Year’s Eve.

Some have described it as “the greatest divergence between scientific advice and legislation” since the start of the pandemic and that both hospital numbers and deaths could rise rapidly without intervention.

At hospitals in Whiston and St Helens there is anxiety over how the increasing rates could play out in coming weeks.

There is anxiety among hospital medics over the high infection rates and if this will translate into a spike in hospital admisssions

The number of patients in hospitals locally was around the 70 mark ahead of Christmas. Health chiefs warned that 80 per cent of patients in intensive care were not vaccinated, although the number in ICU was not given.

Locally, health bosses are sticking to the message that regular lateral flow testing and testing before visits or gatherings such as New Year’s Eve will help to reduce the spread.

They are also urging people to get the booster jab or their initial doses of vaccinations.

Testing kits are available from centres in St Helens, despite reports of shortages elsewhere.

A council statement read: "National and local Public Health advice is to celebrate New Year’s Eve outside if possible. Worryingly, statistics are starting to show an increase in cases in people aged 60 and over, who are among the most vulnerable to serious illness as a result of Covid-19.

"Please take extra care and take a lateral flow test before visiting elderly relatives, care homes or anyone considered vulnerable to serious illness."

There are two symptom-free testing centres open across the borough. Walk in without appointment for a test, or to collect home testing kits.

Grange Valley Youth Centre, Haydock, open 10am-4pm Monday to Friday, including Monday 3 January until Friday 7 January.

St Mary’s Market, St Helens Town Centre, open:

• December 30: 8.30am-6pm

• December 31: 8.30am-5pm

• January 1: Closed

• January 2: 10am-3pm

• January 3: 10am-3pm

St Mary’s Market will return to normal open hours from January 4.

For more information about testing, visit sthelens.gov.uk/letsgettested

If you are over 18 years old you can now book your Covid-19 booster, and first or second vaccinations if you haven’t already. By last week more than 70,000 of St Helens adults aged 40 and over had had a booster jab, which equates to 73.2 per cent of the population.

Councillor Anthony Burns, cabinet member for wellbeing, culture and heritage, added: “We all need to do our bit to help reduce the chance of catching and spreading Covid-19 as we’ve seen Omicron take hold in places like London.

"The key things we can do is make sure that we all take symptom free tests regularly before we meet with others or at least twice a week if you work in high-risk environments like hospitality, distribution and shops.

“To meet the rising demand for symptom free testing we’ve reopened the test centre at Grange Valley Youth Centre in Haydock for anyone who does not have test kits at home alongside our current test provision at St Mary’s Market in St Helens town centre.

“It’s also really important you book in for your vaccinations, whether first, second or booster dose. If we all take these steps we may be able to reduce the impact of infections, reduce hospital admissions and ultimately potentially help save the lives of someone you love.”