'Stay on guard' is message for Oxfordshire as alert level falls to yellow

Last week, Oxford was placed under ‘amber alert’, meaning it was close to being placed on a Government watchlist for local lockdown.

But a fall in the weekly number of coronavirus infections has meant the alert level has been reduced to yellow.

Despite this, the county’s director of public health, Ansaf Azhar, has said people in Oxford in particular needed to remain cautious.

Also read: Jobs are at risk at high street coffee shop Costa

“While the figures are going in the right direction, now is not the time to relax.

"We’ve had an uncomfortable period of being statistically close to areas of the country that we know are on the Government watchlist.

"It may be that the message is getting through to people that they must self-isolate if they are returning from holiday in a country that is not on the exemption list. It may also be that people have responded by remembering to do the basics - keeping their distance, washing their hands and wearing a face covering.

Ansaf Azhar

“What is for certain is that if we forget those basics again and slide into bad habits, those figures will rise once more and we’ll be heading at speed into becoming an area of concern for central Government and ultimately lockdown.”

The health chief and the county council had been targeting messages to young people between the ages of 18 and 29, as there was evidence this group had been the ‘catalyst’ for a rise in the number of cases.

Read about one Oxfordshire pub where positive Covid tests have led to extra precautions

In the week up to August 21, there were a total of 88 recorded cases of the virus in the city, of which 41 were in Oxford.

Last week, up to August 28, this had fallen to 63 across Oxfordshire, with 23 of these cases within the boundaries of Oxford.

Despite the lower alert limit, Mr Azhar reminded residents ‘Do not let your guard down’.

He added: “This advice will apply this week, next week and every week until we are able nationally and internationally to say that Covid-19 no longer presents a risk. We are watching the statistics on a daily basis and will respond to trends as they emerge.”

Shoppers in Oxford as the city centre reopened in June. Picture: Ed Nix

Guidance on preventing the spread of coronavirus continues to include simple actions like following distancing, washing hands or using sanitiser and wearing masks in required places.

The colour-coded five stage alert system which sets out the rate of coronavirus infection in the UK was first unveiled by the Government in May when it changed the official messaging on Covid to ‘Stay Alert. Control the Virus. Save Lives.’

Nationally, an amber level alert, or level four, means there is a high or rising level of transmission in the community.

By contrast, level three or the yellow alert level, means the virus is in ‘general circulation’ and that some restrictions can continue to remain relaxed.

On a local level, the alert system tracks the number of people infected per 100,000.

If there are more than 50 cases per 100,000 people, then an area will be placed under red alert.

Between 25 and 50 is amber, between 15 and 25 is yellow.

Between 5 and 15 is light green alert, and less than five is dark green.

Also read: Worries over government's planning 'power grab'

Some areas of the UK under red alert have been placed under so-called local lockdowns.

Oxford is set to face a challenge to local efforts to control the virus in coming weeks when its two universities welcome back their students.

Oxford University has approximately 24,000 students in total (as of 2018), while Oxford Brookes has approximately 18,000.

Last week, the University and Colleges Union, the largest union representing higher education workers, issued a stark warning on the return of students.

In a press statement, the union said ‘the prospect of mass student migration was already challenging enough’.

But it added: “The A-levels fiasco and the removal of the cap on the number of students universities can recruit risked overwhelming some institutions and turning universities into the care homes of a second wave.”

It called for universities to scrap plans to reopen their campuses this year, and teach the mainstay of classes online.