EIGHTEEN new cases of coronavirus have been reported in Hampshire in the last 24 hours.

There have been no further deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours in Hampshire.

Four new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Winchester district in the last 24 hours. It stands at 539, an infection rate of 431.7 people in every 100,000.

In the Hampshire County Council area as of 4pm today the number of new infections has increased by 28 to 5,750 lab-confirmed cases of the virus, up from 5,722 on Sunday.

Nationally 18 deaths have been reported in the UK, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths to 41,777, according to the ONS website updated this afternoon.

The rate of infection in Hampshire stands at 415.9 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average, shown this afternoon as 610.5.

Today there have now been 398,625 cases of the virus across the UK. This is an increase of 4,368 in the last 24 hours.

The number of deaths in Hampshire hospitals remains at 611. The figure for fatal cases at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, is 162. For the other local county trusts, Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust, 231; Solent NHS Trust, 2; Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust, 17; University Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, 199.

The R number in the south-east is between 1.1 and 1.4 meaning that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 11 and 14 other people.

The growth rate in the south east is between +2% and +7% which means the number of new infections is growing by 2% to 7% every day.

Some 9 patients were admitted to hospital with coronavirus on Sunday. There are 76 with the condition in hospital today with four on ventilators, according to the ONS.

Total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic of people who had had a positive test result for Covid-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test, the figures are Hampshire 725, Portsmouth 77 and Southampton 123.

Other coronavirus news:

The UK could be facing about 50,000 new Covid-19 cases a day by mid-October, leading to 200 deaths a day a month later if the current rate of infection is not halted - the Government’s chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance has warned.

Sir Patrick said the “vast majority of the population remain susceptible” to catching coronavirus and the current situation required swift action to bring the case numbers down.

In a televised press conference together with England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty this morning (Monday September 21), Sir Patrick said there was “no doubt” the UK was in a situation where the numbers were increasing among all age groups.

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