Covid deaths more than doubled in a week in Doncaster, according the latest figures

Latest figures covering the period up to Saturday, October 24, updated last night, showed 21 deaths within 28 days of a diagnosis of Covid 19 in the borough, in the seven days previous.

It was a 133 per cent rise on the previous seven day period, which was the week from October 11 to October 17, in which nine had died.

The daily death figure published for the borough yesterday was three.

The daily number of people testing positive in Doncaster was recorded at 287, with a figure of 1,602 for the previous seven days. It was described as a 99 per cent rise on the previous week’s figure, a rise of 797 cases, meaning it nearly doubled.

The rate per 100,000 resident population was 399.5, a seven-day rolling rate by date of specimen as of 19 October 2020.

The figures also stated the latest R number for the healthcare region of North East and Yorkshire is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3 with a daily infection growth rate range of +2% to +5%.

This is the number of people each infected person passed the virus on to. Anything over 1.0 means cases rise.

Sheffield and South Yorkshire was put in the highest ‘tier three’ level of restrictions from yesterday in a bid to reduce the number of infections in the region.

Sheffield City Region mayor Dan Jarvis sent an open letter to the residents of the county just hours before the Tier 3 restrictions began in Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley and Doncaster just after midnight on Saturday. It stated that although he understood the weariness many would feel, the measures that have been taken were needed in South Yorkshire.

Mr Jarvis led the team which negotiated with the Government for nearly a fortnight before announcing the move, which comes with a £41 million support package, earlier this week.

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones said earlier this week: “(We) like the rest of South Yorkshire, are in this category, for a reason – the infection rates are not going down or even levelling off.

“Very High Tier 3 will mean tighter restrictions for the borough and we must all collectively do our bit to get the infection rate down.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.