Public health bosses are calling on people in Gloucestershire to help with the “final push” to stop the spread of coronavirus.
The Covid-19 infection rate is rising in the county and it is particular affecting people aged from 10 to 29.
Health experts believe this is because this age group has not been fully vaccinated yet and many younger people are working in public facing jobs.
Sarah Scott, the county’s public health director, says it is extremely important that people get vaccinated and continue to follow the guidance.
She says that while hospitalisations thankfully remain low, it is important to keep the overall number of infections as low as possible.
This is because if more people get infected there is more of a chance the virus could mutate.
“As we expected, as the lockdown measures have eased, we’ve seen more people mixing,” she said.
“Cases are going up in the county, in some areas we are seeing quite rapid growth.”
Ms Scott said the South West has seen relatively low rates of infection throughout the pandemic.
And this could also explain why cases are currently increasing rapidly in the county as there may be less immunity due to less of the population being exposed to the disease.
“Over most of the pandemic in Gloucestershire and the South West we’ve seen relatively low rates,” she said.
“This might help explain why our case rate is rising quite quickly in particular age groups.
“There is a hypothesis that the South West as a whole has a lower level of immunity because we’ve seen a lower level of disease overall.
“The majority of our cases are in young people, the ten to 29 age group. That is the under vaccinated population.”
Overall, the coronavirus vaccine uptake has been really good across Gloucestershire and now everyone over the age of 18 is invited to have the jab.
But Ms Scott says it is vital that people take up the two doses of the vaccine to have the maximum benefit.
“We are seeing this peak in the group who have either had only one dose. It’s a pattern across the South West,” she said.
“People are out there trying to live as normal a life as possible within the restrictions. But the delta variant is much easier to catch.
“No vaccine is 100% effective, it’s still possible to catch it and pass it on. Particularly if you haven’t had that second dose.
“Even if you’ve had both vaccines, we are asking people to follow the guidance. It doesn’t make you completely invulnerable to the impact of the virus.
“It’s like one final push. We are heading into another peak at the moment and we must do all we can to stop it.”
She said the main impact the virus is having now is on Gloucestershire schools and the economy.
“We’ve seen quite a few cases in schools but we believe that is driven by their contact in the wider community.
“We’ve seen outbreaks in workplaces and associated with the leisure and hospitality sector as well.
“There are people who can’t go to work because they are self-isolating or are at home looking after their children.
“That’s starting to have an impact on critical services such as the NHS, frontline police services because people are having to self-isolating.
“It’s great that people aren’t being so seriously affected but it’s having another impact that is becoming a bit of an issue we need to manage.
“The more people get the virus the more risk there is that the virus will mutate again.
“What we don’t want is to have another mutation. We don’t know if the next variant of concern will evade the vaccine.
“That’s why we are still banging this drum to follow the guidance.”
A total of 1,154 positive coronavirus tests were reported in Gloucestershire in the seven days leading to June 26.
The case rate is for the county is currently at 181.1 per 100,000 people.
Health leaders say there is good testing capacity locally and they encourage anyone who presents symptoms to get tested.
