Northamptonshire missed being in Tier Three 'by skin of our teeth', says health chief

A top health chief for Northamptonshire says the county only missed out on being in Tier Three Covid restrictions "by the skin of our teeth".

A press conference today heard how the county's number of positive cases saw a sharp uptick in the week before England's tiers were announced this week.

The sharpest rise was in Northampton, which between December 7 and 13 saw 510 of the 1,243 cases reported - which marks it as a higher rate than the England average.

"We have remained in Tier Two but it's really by the skin of our teeth," said the county's director of public health at a Covid-19 press conference today.

"We're firmly back on the upward trajectory.

"Northamptonshire, and particularly Northampton, is a hair’s breadth away from moving into Tier Three.

"We are asking people to remain vigilant and reminding them that just because you can doesn’t mean should.

"We may not have been placed in Tier 3 on Thursday 17 December but we must brace ourselves for this happening after Christmas if cases do not drastically reduce."

Data also showed how the number of Covid-19 positive patients occupying a bed in Northamptonshire's two general hospitals has increased for the ninth week in a row, up to a total of 247.

Director Wightman was asked by the Chronicle & Echo if she thought Northamptonshire entering Tier Three was inevitable by the New Year.

She said: "Yes it's a challenge, yes we're on a knife edge, particularly in Northampton. But I genuinely believe that the public is up to the challenge here. We've got three areas off the chief medical officer's watch list before and I think everyone knows in their gut that the right thing to do is to have a small Christmas without mixing.

"If people follow their gut instinct on this we could come out of Christmas still in Tier Two."