Coronavirus Leeds: Infection rate on the rise after three day fall

The latest rate in Leeds was recorded on Wednesday January 13 at 344.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is a daily rise in cases from Tuesday's recorded rate which was 332.2 cases per 100,000 people.

It is hoped by Leeds City Council's CEO that this increase "won't be sustained" but that it shows "how much we need to keep our distance and stay at home if we can".

Although only slightly, Tuesday's rate was down however from Monday when the rate was recorded at 332.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Monday's rate was down again from Sunday when the rate was 346 cases per 100,000 people.

Tuesday's recorded positivity rate was 12.5 per cent, which has dropped from 13.3 per cent on Monday.

Saturday to Sunday was the first fall in cases Leeds has seen since the third national lockdown began, with cases on Saturday being recorded at a rate of 355.

CEO of Leeds City Council, Tom Riordan tweeted: "The Leeds case rate has gone up to 344.2 per 100k (from 332).

"We hope that this increase won’t be sustained, but on the day 1,564 UK deaths were reported it shows how much we need to keep our distance and stay at home if we can."

On Tuesday, Tom Riordan said the case rate was "stable" but despite the recent drop in case numbers, the case rate for over 60s on Tuesday was up to 223.6 cases per 100,000 people which is a 9.6 per cent increase from just under a week before on Wednesday January 6.

The over 60s rate on January 6 was at 204 cases per 100,000 people.

Safeguarding Minister Victoria Atkins has said today (Thursday) that even if people have some immunity to Covid-19 after contracting the virus everyone still needed to follow the rules.

Asked on Sky News on Thursday about reports that contracting the virus gives “at least as good” immunity as from the vaccine she said: “The science on this is developing, as with this pandemic we all know it is unprecedented, we are all learning as time goes by and it is fantastic that we have such a great team of scientists working on this.

“But the message from Government, I’m afraid, remains the same: all of the measures that we have, whether it’s ‘hands, face and social distancing’, all the lockdown measures that we are currently in, they all still apply.

“This vaccination news, or indeed the news that if you have already had Covid you might have some immunity, that’s great news for the future but we all must play our part in sticking to the rules so we can start to, in due course, release these lockdown restrictions and get back to some form of normality.”

The mutant strain of coronavirus now makes up one in five new cases in Leeds, up from one in 20 cases at Christmas.

Virus mutations are common, but experts have said one of the variants discovered last year may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible.

England’s deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has suggested an increase in the social distancing recommendation would play little role in controlling the spread of the new coronavirus variant.

Reports have suggested Government scientists want the recommended gap increased from one metre, if mitigation measures such as masks or screens are in place, to two metres.

That would mean an increase in distancing from two metres to three metres without mitigation.