"They’re not to blame for this": Health chief says Covid spike is not young peoples' fault

Figures for South Tyneside have shown COVID-19 infection rates have been highest among 15 to 34-year-olds since August.

Following a steep rise in hospital admissions, this has prompted concerns they were responsible for pushing the virus into more vulnerable, older age groups.

But experts have insisted they cannot be held solely responsible for the disease’s ongoing resurgence.

“We need to be really careful about vilifying younger people – they’re not to blame for this,” said Tom Hall, director of public health at South Tyneside Council.

“They are more likely to be in situations where they’re more open to contracting COVID-19.

“We know this virus likes people to be close together, it likes people to socialise and mix because it spreads easily between people.

“Young people are much more likely to be in jobs where they can’t work from home, in hospitality and retail, on the front line having to interact with and serve people.”

Hall was speaking at a meeting of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Co-ordinating and Call-In Committee, which was held by videolink and broadcast via YouTube.

The borough has had 355 cases of coronavirus confirmed in the last seven days, an infection rate of about 200 per 100,000 people.

Infections among the 15-34 age bracket peaked between September 28 and October 4, with a rate of 508.9 per 100,000.

In early August South Tyneside had one of the lowest infection rates in the country, but by September it had the second highest in England.

According to Hall, the strain has been largely felt evenly across the borough, with no single area seeing significantly higher or lower figures than the rest.

South Tyneside has also been spared a single ‘complex’ outbreak event, such as the charity football match in Burnside which was described as a ‘catalyst’ for a Sunderland spike.

He added: “Thankfully all lines are pointing in the right direction now across all age groups.

“But the one I look at with most interest is the over 65s and we want to see that number continue to fall because they are much more susceptible to COVID-19.”

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