Despite Omicron cases rapidly rising in many parts of the United Kingdom, particularly in London and the South East, Herefordshire at present remains relatively unaffected by the new variant with just a handful of cases reported.
Data released by the Wellcome Sanger Institute shows that in the seven day period ending 11th December, none of the cases sequenced in Herefordshire were believed to be the Omicron variant. This is down on the previous week when an estimated 16 cases were believed to be the Omicron variant in the county. It should be noted though that it’s still likely that a small number of cases recorded in the latest figures for Herefordshire are Omicron.
What is for certain is that Herefordshire’s COVID-19 infection rate remains one of the lowest in the United Kingdom, with a total of 727 new cases recorded in the seven day period ending 16th December. This is a fall of 11.4% on the previous seven day period. This means that the COVID-19 infection rate in Herefordshire for the seven day period ending 16th December was 375.5 cases per 100,000 population.
It’s hoped that by the time the Omicron variant becomes the dominant variant in Herefordshire, that close to 80% of those eligible for a COVID-19 booster vaccine will have received one, therefore limiting the chances of high numbers of hospitalisations. Latest data shows that around 75% of those eligible for a booster in Herefordshire and Worcestershire have now received one thanks to the huge ramp up in walk-in vaccination clinics across the two counties.
