A pensioner says shopping in High Wycombe is difficult because an "alarming number of people" are now "apparently unworried" about catching Covid-19. 

It comes amid rising Covid-19 infections, with the number of beds at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals occupied by people who tested positive for Covid-19 more than tripling in the last four weeks – 28 days ago, there were 15 and now there are 52. 

The concerned shopper, who lives in a village just outside High Wycombe and wanted to remain anonymous, said visiting the town centre is a "risk" for those who are terrified to catch the virus because other people do not seem bothered enough to take precautions. 

He said he rarely saw anyone wearing masks and there were less sanitising stations in shops.  

In a letter to the Bucks Free Press, he said: "I was there a week ago, July 13,  and found an alarming number of people now apparently unworried about catching Covid.

"On the same day I read that nationally the infection rate had gone up more than 30 per cent from the previous week. Cases have more than doubled since the start of June.

"Last week it was reported that about 3.5 million people - or one in 18 - had the virus. The number of people with long lingering Covid is growing.

"Till a few weeks ago supermarkets in our town centre had at least sanitisers at their front doors and a lot of people were still in masks.

"But when I called in at Morrisons last week the sanitisers have gone from the doors, very few customers were masked and everything was back to normal pre-Covid around me - but a man was coughing hard for about ten minutes in the cafe till he left.

"I called in at Aldi off Gomm Road and was a bit heartened to see the sanitiser pumps and big rolls of tissue were still at the door. In the first ten minutes I saw 12 people in masks."

More than 200,000 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, new figures released last week show.

The grim milestone comes as infections and hospital admissions are once again on the rise, driven by the coronavirus subvariant Omicron BA.2 – though the number of deaths remains well below levels reached in previous waves.

The 200,000 mark was reached on June 25, but has only now been confirmed due to the time it takes for deaths to be registered.

The worried Wycombe shopper said the risk of developing long Covid forms a major part of his concerns. 

He added: "Long Covid, after more than four weeks with the bug, is a menace with reports of weeks or even months of fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, loss of smell and/or taste and lots of muscle ache.

"Perhaps I'm too much of an alarmist but as a pensioner hoping for a longer life I just hope people are still on their guard."