On Tuesday East Sussex County Council (ESCC) circulated a message saying “we are seeing a worrying rise in the number of Covid infections around Rother”, and on Wednesday the BBC’s South East News said infections in Hastings seem to be doubling each week.
Our local MP has also expressed her concern (see below) about developments in Hastings, and a Rother district councillor representing villages on the Rye side of Hastings is apparently also worried – and, as Covid-19 cases rise in Hastings and Rother, East Sussex County Council’s (ESCC) director of public health is calling for us to adopt an “only if you must” approach to activities outside our households as we approach Christmas.
And the need to maintain “hands, face and space” precautions, and take care, will probably continue until next summer, government representatives have said as the nationwide vaccination programme began this week.
On Tuesday ESCC was more specific and said: “Please do all you can to push the virus back. Don’t socialise indoors with anyone you don’t live with. If you must go out avoid crowded places. Wash your hands regularly and book a test if you have a cough or other symptoms”.
On a knife edge?
Earlier in the week a Rother Councillor had said: “Against the national trend Covid cases have risen significantly in both Hastings and Rother, despite the recent lockdown. From having one of the lowest rates in the England we are now well above the national average and rising. There are indications that positive cases have not been isolating, leading to transmission in the community.
“We are on the knife-edge between following the pattern of Kent – which led it into tier 3 (covered by the highest level of restrictions on what we can do) – and of Brighton and Worthing, who have kept infection rates low. Please be careful and pass this message on to your friends and family.”
This warning came from Rother district councillor Andrew Mier who represents Southern Rother Ward covering the villages of Fairlight, Guestling, Icklesham and Pett, on the outskirts of Hastings, but the published figures for Covid-19 cases cover the whole district – and limited evidence has appeared so far in the Rye area – though children come from a wide area into Rye College.
MP is “very concerned”
Our local MP issued the following statement earlier in the week: “Today (8 December) Sally-Ann Hart, local MP for Hastings and Rye, is urging local residents to follow the guidance and comply with the social distancing measures, as Covid-19 cases have been rising sharply and in a sustained way in recent days.”
Speaking after the release of the latest Covid-19 data, Sally-Ann said “I am very concerned by the sharp and sustained rise in Covid-19 cases across Hastings and Rother. Having spoken to the local director of public health, there is now a real anxiety that we could see a prolonged period of high infection rates as seen in north Kent. If this is the case, then our area is now teetering towards tier 3 restrictions in the coming weeks.
“I am urging all local residents to please follow the guidance and comply with the Covid-19 restrictions. I know this is incredibly hard for all of us, but if we ignore the rules cases will go up, our hospital will be overwhelmed and ultimately, we will see the desperate scenes of families losing loved ones in the run up to Christmas. If we follow the restrictions, we can avoid tier 3 measures and protect our NHS, ultimately saving lives.”
In recent days the numbers of Covid-19 infections in Hastings has risen sharply, within 4 days going from 69 per 100,000 to 114, with no sign of levelling off.
“Only if you must”
“Given the rise in cases we must now all take responsibility for the number of social contacts that we have, adopting a “only if you must” attitude to whether you need to meet up with people. As a community we have worked so hard over the last ten months to ensure we have some of the lowest rates in the country, and we need to pull together once more to get the infection rates back down to their low levels.
“We beat the first wave. We’ve got through the second. Now let’s all pull together to avoid a third,” said Sally-Ann.
Image Credits: J. Minter , UK Parliament https://members.parliament.uk/member/4842/portrait Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0) .
We are told that in the country as a whole the infections are being mostly transmitted amongst school age children. No matter how much school staff may try to police the situation within the school buildings during the day, children continue to gather in large numbers around the Rye Station area especially at the end of the school day prior to taking transport home. Here it would appear anything goes, no social distancing, no masks. Little wonder then that the rate is using sharply in Rother. I know the risk of infection is lower outside but the risk is not “nil” and in any case they are all going to get on buses and trains eventually for the journey home (and I suspect, to allow more socialising, the first available train or bus may not be taken); hopefully masks are worn by them on the public transport.
Reference Mr Hiller- Palmer’s comment. I would suggest the Council look at the daily influx of vehicles to the Rye Harbour car park serving the Nature Reserve. Each day this park is fully occupied. I would suggest that these vehicles and their occupants are not locals, and therefore could be transmitting the disease from areas with a high incidence of the covid virus. I would suggest that, before the christmas holiday gets under way the Car park should be closed.
One of the attractions of our area was the low infection rate, therefore making it appear a ‘safe’ place to visit, and they did just that: both Rye and Hastings have been heaving with people. Lots of cars with number plates from other parts of the country, too. Rye is advertised widely as a place to visit, so easily reached from London. Doesn’t help at all!
If you are going to be in close proximity to people, inside or outside, you should take precautions for your wellbeing and that of others by wearing a mask. Closing down a car park for those looking to walk by Rye Harbour, in what is an open and mostly a very windy location, is unlikely to make any difference to Covid infections! I’d take my chances on the beach over indoors any day. It’s time people started understanding the science rather than blaming visitors. Covid is everywhere – closing car parks is not going to stop its transmission.
Check out Winchelsea Town where second home owners moving in & out willy nilly. At least 3 within 1minutes walk from our house.