The Prime Minister announced last night that the so-called Freedom Day would be pushed back by a month due to a rise in Covid infections.

Boris Johnson told the nation live from Downing Street that the restrictions scheduled to be lifted on June 21 would now not take place until July 19.

Today, Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers, welcomed the "cautious" approach saying it means the NHS can vaccinate "many more people" adding it will mean there is "less pressure" on hospitals which are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic.

Scientists had warned that the rapidly spreading Delta variant, which was first identified in India, would lead to a "significant" rise in hospital admissions if stage four of England’s road map went ahead as planned on June 21.

The largest concentration of cases is on the north west of England but surge testing is now being deployed in other parts of England, including Berkshire.

What's the situation like in Watford and the surrounding area?

Locally, the number of cases is much lower than Covid hotspots other parts of the country, but the disease is very much present in our area.

Watford did have one of the highest Covid infection rates in the south of England towards the end of May after an outbreak at Cherry Tree Primary School in the north of the town.

That outbreak has been largely suppressed and the school has reopened but other cases have since cropped up around the town with around ten new cases being reported everyday.

In the seven days to June 10, at least 63 cases were found in Watford, equivalent to an infection rate of 65.2 cases per 100,000 population. This is just within the top 100 highest rates out of 314 local authorities in England.

At a public health and community safety meeting on June 11, Hertfordshire County Council's director of public health, Jim McManus, said the Delta variant had become the dominant strain in Hertfordshire, which was to be "expected".

The table below shows the number of cases in every Watford neighbourhood between June 4 and 10. The table does not yet include 38 cases that have been identified in Watford since June 10.

The table below shows the latest picture in Three Rivers district, while in Bushey and Bushey Heath collectively, between seven and nine cases were recorded between June 4 and 10.

What's it like at Watford General Hospital?

Watford General was one of the hardest-hit hospitals during the Covid pandemic and during the second wave, staff were run off their feet with nearly 350 Covid patients being cared for at one time.

So it was extremely heart-warming to see that on May 25 and 26 of this year, no Covid patients were being cared for by West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

Between May 27 and June 6, the trust admitted 12 Covid patients and two patients went onto ventilation.

According to the latest figures available, there were five Covid patients being cared for by the trust on June 8 with none on ventilation.

There have been zero Covid deaths recorded by NHS England at the trust since April 25.

 

How is the vaccination programme going locally?

The Department of Health and Social Care said today that 57.3 per cent of UK adults - around 30 million people - are fully vaccinated while almost four in five (79.4 per cent) had received one dose.

In Watford, and as of June 14, 59,124 residents (of any age) had received one dose of the Covid vaccine, while 41,099 of those residents had received two doses.

In Three Rivers, 60,193 residents have had one dose, with 44,471 receiving two.

At Stanborough Park Church in St Albans Road in Garston tomorrow (June 16), anyone over the age of 18 is invited for a Pfizer jab via a walk-in clinic.

See more: Walk-in clinic in Watford offering Pfizer Covid vaccine to over 18s tomorrow