REDDITCH has the highest rate of Covid infections not only in Worcestershire, but also Birmingham.
Shock figures put the borough’s infection rate at 299 cases per 100,000 – or 255 cases all told in the week ending February 6.
Birmingham by comparison has 290, while Worcester has 239 and neighbouring Bromsgrove, 176.
Stratford district, which includes Alcester and Studley, has 114.
The news has led Council Leader Matt Dormer to urge people to strictly adhere to the government’s ‘Hands, Face, Space’ message and to wear a facemask when in shops.
“I’m sick of people not wearing facemasks and those buying lanyards online stating their exempt from wearing one when they’re not.
“We are all in this together and we have to help each other out instead of looking for reasons not to wear a mask.”
However he added that there were specific reasons why the rate in Redditch was high, which was why extra precautions had to be taken.
“The problem here, and it has been all the way through, is that Redditch is keeping the wheels of manufacturing turning.
“If you can work from home, work from home, but Redditch has so many people working in units and factories who simply cannot work from home.
“Broadly, the rest of the county does not have this issue, so it makes it all the more important that we stick to the Covid infection rules – Hands, Face, Space.”
The news comes as the county council rolls out home testing kits for the South African variant of Covid-19 in the Worcester and Droitwich areas following reports of a single case there.
Dr Kathryn Cobain, Director for Public Health in Worcestershire said: “It is important we test as many people as we can in these postcode areas, to ensure we are identifying people who are carrying Covid-19 without realising.
This testing will also help us nationally identify the spread of the South African variant.”
