Doncaster health boss warns of Indian and Yorkshire Covid variants as cases fall

In his weekly update, Dr Rupert Suckling, Director of Public Health in Doncaster said that coronavirus in the town was ‘falling slowly’ and urged people to take precautions to prevent new variants spreading.

He said: “Our rate of infection continues to fall slowly – it’s currently 31.7 per 100,000 people for the period 9 to 15 May.

“I know people may be concerned about the Indian variant.

“I can confirm that Doncaster is not one of the 86 Council’s with five or more confirmed cases that were mentioned in the briefing. But unfortunately it is highly likely that we will see this variant increase locally as we saw previously with the Kent variant.

“Although we do expect to see the Indian Variant in Doncaster in coming weeks and months there are things we can do to try and limit the risks that this will cause to our communities.

"Firstly, remember that although a number of restrictions have now lifted the virus is still circulating so continue to make safer choices on how you enjoy the wider re-openings.

“You may have also seen reports of a new coronavirus that is mainly concentrated in Yorkshire and the Humber.

"Whilst this may be alarming, there is no evidence that this new variant is any more transmissible, infectious or causes more illness than any other current coronavirus variant.

"I have not been notified of any cases in Doncaster and the same measures hands, face, space and ventilate will prevent this or any other coronavirus spreading

“Taking part in twice weekly testing, isolating when you have symptoms or when you are asked to do so by our local Test and Trace teams and getting your vaccination when it is your turn are the best ways we can protect ourselves and our communities against both the current strain of the virus or any other variants.

As we enter into the first weekend of Step 3 in the roadmap out of national restrictions it means we've got choices to make about balancing risks of where we are and what we're doing. Making safer choices can help keep our rates low.”