One Birmingham suburb has a Covid infection rate more than five times higher than the rest of the city, new figures show.

The latest data from the government’s interactive map shows that Summerfield has a rolling rate of 871.4 per 100,000 of the population in the week to February 25.

The area, which includes HMP Birmingham in Winson Green, had a total of 93 cases and was up 56 new cases in the last seven days. Birmingham currently has an infection rate of just 141.

Bradley in Wolverhampton and Kates Hill in Dudley have also seen a huge increase in cases and have recorded a rise of 200 and 137 per cent.
Last week, Birmingham’s director of public health Justin Varney confirmed a “significant outbreak” at the city prison involving a “large number of cases.”

Concerned councillors said a large number of people in a prison environment meant the Ministry of Justice needed to take extra care.

While the Prison Service said it was their priority to “limit the spread of the virus and protect the lives of those who live and work in our prisons.

The news also comes as 46 more coronavirus-linked deaths were confirmed in Birmingham and Midlands

Covid-19 deaths were registered in Birmingham, the Black Country, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire and beyond on March 3.

There were further Covid-19 deaths in the East of the Midlands region too, from Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire to parts of Derbyshire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and beyond.

Source BirminghamMail 03Mar21