THE upturn in new cases of coronavirus continues in Hampshire and Winchester, according to figures published this afternoon.

The first cases have been reported at Winchester University which has welcomed thousands of new and returning students in the last couple of weeks.

The number of new cases of the virus reported in the Hampshire County Council area has risen by 75 from 6,350 to 6,425 and in Winchester district from 603 to 613, an increase of 10. The current infection rate in the city council district is 491.0 people in every 100,000.

In Winchester in the last seven days the number of new cases is 61. In the previous seven days, ending on Tuesday September 29, the number was 12.

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

Nationally, 76 deaths have been reported in the UK today, bringing the number of confirmed reported deaths to 42,445, according to the ONS website.

Today the rate of infection in Hampshire stands at 464.7 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average, 806.9. The Winchester rate is higher than the county but much lower than nationally.

There have been 530,113 cases of the virus across the UK. This is an increase of 14,542 in the last 24 hours, up on the 12,594 in the previous 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 stayed steady at 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 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 18, down one, reported on Sunday in the south-east region, that includes Hampshire. There are 117 with the condition in hospital yesterday, up two on Monday, with 11 on ventilators yesterday, up three, according to the ONS. The numbers are not broken down 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, remains: 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.

Other coronavirus news:

Two cases have been reported at Winchester University.

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The latest on the virus in local primary and secondary schools.

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Winchester Guildhall is set to hold court cases, for the first time since early 1970s, to allow for better social distancing at the city's Law Courts.

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