SEVEN new cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Winchester district in the last 24 hours, according to figures published this afternoon.

The number of new cases of coronavirus reported in the Winchester district rose to 568, the fourth day in a row the figure has been four or above. The current infection rate of 454.9 people in every 100,000.

In the last seven days 26 new cases have been reported. The previous seven days saw just nine new cases.

No new deaths have been reported in Winchester district or in the Hampshire County Council area.

Across Hampshire 28 new cases were reported on Wednesday bringing the number of infections 6,054 lab-confirmed cases of the virus, up from 6,028 yesterday.

Nationally, 66 deaths have been reported in the UK today, bringing the number of confirmed reported deaths to 42,202, according to the ONS website.

Today the rate of infection in Hampshire stands at 437.9 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average, 708.4. The Winchester rate is higher than the county but much lower than nationally.

There have been 467,146 cases of the virus across the UK. This is an increase of 6,968 in the last 24 hours.

The number of deaths in Hampshire hospitals remains at 616. The figure for fatalities 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, 236; Solent, 2; Southern Health, 17; University Southampton, 199.

The R number in the south-east has today risen to 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 region is also edging up, and is now between +2% and +6%, meaning the number of new infections is growing by up to 6% every day.

Regarding Covid patients admitted to hospital, the figure is 22, up eight, reported on Wednesday in the south-east region, that includes Hampshire. There are 104 with the condition in hospital today, up 11 on yesterday, with eight on ventilators today, the same, according to the ONS. There are no specific numbers for hospitals in Hampshire.

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, are: Hampshire, 728, Portsmouth, 79 and Southampton, 123. The Winchester district figure, the city council area, is 77, a rate of 61.7 per 100,000 people.

In other coronavirus news:

A NEW coronavirus test centre is set to be created in Winchester to met demand for testing in the city.

The Hampshire Chronicle can reveal that talks are underway to bring a walk-through centre to the city, but civic chiefs are keeping tight-lipped over the exact location.

It comes as people wanting to be tested are being forced to travel miles from their home to get a test due to increasing demand.

Read more on this story here

A WINCHESTER secondary school has confirmed a positive case of coronavirus.

Kings’ School, in Romsey Road, wrote to parents and carers on Thursday to inform them about the case.

The school has been in contact with Public Health England and the Department for Education and, following their risk assessment, "they are confident that the individual was not in school during their infectious period".

Other schools reporting cases include The Westgate, and Swanmore secondary and primary. If you know of others, contact us at news@hampshirechronicle.co.uk.

Read more about it here

WAITING times for non-urgent treatment at Hampshire Hospitals Trust have risen to their highest level since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, new figures reveal.

With colder weather approaching, experts are warning that the NHS must be winter-proof to prevent seasonal flu and further Covid-19 outbreaks from bringing routine surgeries to a halt.

Read more here