Coronavirus (COVID-19)

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected all of our lives in the first half of 2020.  Data and intelligence are vital to understanding the impact of the virus and informing how organisations and individuals respond.

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.

Over time, the coronavirus will undoubtedly have an impact on the other topics covered by this website; in many cases it is being felt already.  For example, we know that the virus is having a disproportionate impact on certain groups of people in our community and the economic impact of the virus is also likely to be severe, at least in the short term.  Our children have missed out on weeks of school and, in addition, lock down measures will have had an impact on some people's mental health and physical well-being.  Nationally, there has been a significant fall off in people accessing their GPs and A&E departments for non-COVID related conditions and the full implications of this are yet to become manifest. 

There are 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. 

New data and research is emerging all the time, so as well as publishing our own analysis as it becomes available, this page is also a place to share links to useful resources where you can find the information for yourself. If you find something that you think we’ve missed, please get in touch.