Cumbria's top health chief Colin Cox says recent figures showing Barrow as the country's top coronavirus hotspot should be viewed with caution.

It was recently revealed by the Government that Barrow has the highest rate of coronavirus infection in the country, with 882 infections per 100,000.

Mr Cox believes these figures should be viewed with caution, saying there are several factors to consider when reading the data.

“The quoted high rate of Covid-19 infections in Barrow and south Cumbria needs to be treated with considerable caution,” he said.

“This is strongly influenced by the rate at which testing is carried out.

“We know that the rate of testing in the area has been exceptionally high due to the early and proactive approach to testing taken by the University Hospital of Morecambe Bay Trust, which manages Furness General Hospital.

“In relation to Barrow specifically, while the infection rate figures are undoubtedly artificially high because of the testing rate, it is still possible that Barrow will turn out to have a higher infection and mortality rate than average.

“We know that mortality rates are higher in older populations, urban areas, and more deprived areas – all of which are relevant to the position in Barrow.

“Barrow also has a small population, so any outbreaks with a number of deaths will have a disproportionate effect on the figures.”

Mr Cox also suggested care homes play a role in the higher figures.

“There have been some significant outbreaks in care homes in Barrow. More data and more research is needed to understand the full picture.”

MP for Barrow in Furness, Simon Fell, echoed Mr Cox’s call for caution. He believes that the high level of testing which began early on in the pandemic has revealed a true picture of what is happening in the area.

“If you ask the question a lot you’re going to get a lot of answers,” he said.

“I think we need to treat these figures incredibly carefully because there are a few factors we do know about and some that we don’t.

“We had the virus three weeks early, our hospital trust started testing then, which was well ahead of the rest of the country.

“We’ve also been testing care homes, which until recently were completely ignored in other parts of the UK.

“Because we’ve been doing so much testing we’re picking up what is going on in the local community.”

Mr Fell is confident in FGH’s capacity to cope with cases.

“We are coping, the people there are doing a great job.”

Nevertheless Mr Fell has asked the Health Secretary Matt Hancock to look more closely into Barrow’s figures.

“I want to see if it is because we’re doing a lot of testing or whether there’s another issue that we need to address.

“I just want that reassurance.”