Doncaster 'yet to see coronavirus peak', according to report

Figures yesterday stated there had been another four deaths involving people suffering from Covid 19 and reports in the Telegraph today claimed Doncaster is among areas suffering their worst weeks for the virus, according to data from the National Office of Statistics (ONS).

But public health bosses in the borough say they are confident the borough is past the peak now.

A spokesman for Doncaster Council said this morning: “The week ending May 15 did see a high number of deaths, but it wasn’t the highest week – that was the previous week.

“There are lots of caveats about death data including the difference between when they happened and when they are reported.

“Our DPH (director of public health) is confident that we are past the peak in Doncaster and of course we are continually monitoring the situation.”

Lockdowns on towns seeing spikes in infection rates are set to be part of the ‘test and trace’ system being introduced in England this week.

At Tuesday’s daily press briefing, health secretary Matt Hancock said: “We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups.

“We have a system that we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new Joint Biosecurity Centre, along with the local directors of public health, who play an absolutely crucial role in decision-making in this system, to make sure if there is a local flare-up, we have a local lockdown.”

Mayor of Doncaster Ros Jones recently raised concerns with Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the lack of localised information about the virus.

She has recommended schools to not open again next week in the borough with that lack of information among the reasons.

Doncaster was one of the regional hotspot areas in Yorkshire in recent weeks.

Barnsley saw the highest rate in Yorkshire of people testing positive for coronavirus in the two weeks to May 23, JPIMedia analysis of official figures shows.

This was followed by Hull, Rotherham, East Riding of Yorkshire and Doncaster, recorded a rate of 34.9 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people.