THE Covid rate in Solihull has fallen to 15 cases per 100,000 – 33 in total – according to the latest figures to April 30, 11 lower than the previous week.
There have been 623 deaths in the borough from Covid-19 and so far 120,031 Silhillians have received their first dose of the vaccine.
The figures come as Ruth Tennant, the director of public health heralded the efforts of local people to work together to beat the pandemic.
However she urged people not to get complacent and warned Solihull is still vulnerable to outbreaks.
“We predict at this point that we will continue to see cases locally and, until more people are vaccinated, we will see clusters of cases and potentially some outbreaks,” she said.
“The virus is still around and a recent outbreak in a small business showed how easily the virus can take hold. It only takes a few more cases for the virus to begin spreading again and for numbers to accelerate.”
Ms Tennant said more than half of the local cases are now of people who did not have any symptoms so she is urging residents to test twice a week.
She said: “By testing twice a week with Lateral Flow Tests you can make sure you’re not passing the virus on without knowing it.
“Make this part of your routine and if you do test positive, confirm this with a second PCR test via the national booking system, and stick with self-isolation.
“The Lateral Flow Device tests are easily available at our community test sites (Tudor Grange Leisure Centre or Newington Resource Centre building) where you can pick up a test to do at home or you can opt for an assisted test there and then.”
Lateral flow tests can be ordered online and they will be delivered for free to your home or get them from participating local pharmacies.
