THE rapid rise in cases of Covid-19 in Alresford looks to have peaked.
The latest figures show that the steep increase in the market town has flattened out but it still has the highest rolling rate in Hampshire per 100,000 people. The rate is still far above the national average as can be seen by the red horizontal bar on the map below.
The Winchester district as a whole saw only six new cases reported today, the lowest number since the start of the second wave in October. The figures are reflected across Hampshire with rates finally starting to drop after the second lockdown.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 24 hours from 1,672 to 1,678 since March, an infection rate of 1,343.9 per 100,000.
Government figures show that in the seven days to Sunday November 22 there were 29 cases in Alresford the same number as in the previous seven days, a rolling seven-day rate of 342.7 per 100,000 people.
To show the drop the figures for Friday November 20 were 40 cases, up 23 on the previous seven days, or 135.3 per cent, a rolling seven-day rate of 472.8 per 100,000 people.
Across the Winchester district the equivalent rolling figure is just 113.7, or 142 cases, down 110 or 43.7 per cent. The figure in an adjacent area to Alresford is Colden Common and Twyford which stretches out to Owslebury. There have only been three cases, down 7, or 70 per cent for a rolling rate of just 31.5.
The figures are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).
The area around Alresford has seen a Covid spike with Perins School last Wednesday becoming the first secondary school to close completely in central and southern Hampshire. It is due to reopen next Thursday, December 3.
The Alresford area also includes Northington, Bighton, Gundleton, Tichborne, Cheriton, Bishop’s Sutton, Bramdean, Shorley, Beauworth and Kilmeston.
For clarity ‘Winchester district’ comprises more than the built-up city and is the council area which stretches from Micheldever in the north to Southwick in the south, from Sparsholt in the west to Bramdean in the east.
Meanwhile, six more people are reported to have died in Hampshire of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The death toll in the county council area was 856.
In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths is up one at 93.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 24 hours by only 12 from 1,637 to 1,649, an infection rate of 1,320.7 per 100,000 since March.
Across Hampshire there were only 141 new Covid-19 cases reported in the HCC area in the last 24 hours, lower than the usual recent figures of more than 250. The figure is 16,870, up from 16,729 on Thursday, since the start of the pandemic in March.
Figures published by NHS England show that over the last 24 hours two people have been reported to have died in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.
So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there have been 205 recorded deaths, up two; 227 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, no change, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 280, up three. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 736 deaths in the NHS across Hampshire.
Some good news though. The R number in the south-east has slipped down to 1.0-1.2 meaning ten people will infect between 10 and 12 other people.
Other coronavirus news:
Whole year self-isolating at secondary school
Tier 2 pub rules explained
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