Coronavirus (COVID-19)

View our summary of COVID-19 in Herefordshire

The coronavirus pandemic has been frequently described as the greatest public health crisis in 100 years. Its impact has gone far beyond the immediate risk of being infected, it has affected the way every one of us leads our lives, changing the way we work, shop and socialise.  The immediate disruption it has caused will continue for some time, even with the vaccines now available, but beyond this the societal impacts will endure for many years to come. 

The evidence base on the impacts of the virus is developing all the time, but what is already clear is that COVID-19 disproportionately affects the vulnerable, the elderly, and the disadvantaged in society. This occurs both through direct impacts on health, and indirect, wider impacts on the economy, job security, educational attainment, and access to healthcare and housing, amongst other factors.

There are several aspects to this work in Herefordshire, and we are working with partners to co-ordinate and prioritise our efforts in:

• Monitoring the epidemiology of the disease in terms of the numbers and characteristics of cases and deaths.
• Supporting the response for the people who are clinically most at risk of developing serious illness.
• Understanding the wider economic and social impacts of measures to contain the spread of the virus.

More information about the wider impacts of COVID-19 can be found in the 2020 Director of Public Health's report (available via 'useful links').  There are also many useful websites which visualise the global impact of coronavirus but we have decided not to attempt to link to them all here, since this page is primarily about data for Herefordshire.