There are a number of incorrect national media stories suggesting Plymouth is seeing a significant rise in cases of COVID-19 and the city is therefore at risk of having a local lockdown.
Dr Ruth Harrell, Director of Public Health for Plymouth, said: “Although we do continue to have cases of coronavirus in Plymouth, we are not currently seeing a significant increase and the numbers are low compared to many other areas.
“The reports that Plymouth could be at risk of a local lockdown, as is currently happening in Leicester, are misleading and the current figures do not support this.
“We expect the figures to vary a little bit from week to week. In Plymouth we had 2 cases in one week, followed by 5 the next. When numbers are very low it means the percentage increase might be high. This does not imply that we are at risk of an outbreak.
“However, we are not complacent. We have launched our Local Outbreak Management Plan which aims to encourage people to remain vigilant and ensure we can quickly implement effective measures to stop the spread of the virus in the event of any clusters of cases.
“I would urge everyone to keep up with the effort to protect themselves and others with simple measures such as social distancing, washing hands frequently and getting tested and self-isolating if they think they might have symptoms."