THE high rate of increase in new Covid cases in Winchester has continued for a second day.
Today's increase was 25, following yesterday's of 26. Most days this month have seen double-digit increases.
The figure for the Winchester district is 848, up from 823, since the start of the pandemic in March.
In the Winchester district the number of new cases in the last seven days has been 118, with 86 in the seven days previously.
The number of Covid-19 patients in the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester has also been rising recently. Today's figure is 33, one down on Monday, but up on the 20 the previous week.
There have been no deaths in the Winchester district reported today. A death has been reported today in Portsmouth.
In the Hampshire County Council area, that includes Winchester, the tally has risen from 8,270 to 8,474, a daily rise of 204, the second highest increase since the pandemic was at its peak.
‘Winchester district’ comprises more than just the city and is the city council area which stretches from Micheldever in the north to Southwick in the south, from Sparsholt in the west to Bramdean in the east.
Data shows that the infection rate in the city council district is 679.2 people in every 100,000 since the start of the crisis in March. See graph below:
The rate for new cases in the district for the last seven days to Tuesday October 20, the latest available, is 67.3 people per 100,000 (84 cases). On the week to October 13 the figure was 74.5 (93), so a slight decline week on week.
Nationally, 189 people have died in the UK, bringing the number of confirmed reported deaths to 44,347.
Four more schools have reported cases this week: Newtown Soberton Infants in the Meon Valley and Osborne School in Winchester yesterday and Denmead and John Keble in Hursley today. The number of infections at the university is now 15.
There have been 810,467 cases of the virus across the UK. This is an increase of 21,238 in the last 24 hours.
The number of deaths in Hampshire hospitals is now 624. The figure for fatalities at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the RHCH in Winchester, is 165. For the other local county trusts: Portsmouth Hospital, 238; Solent, 2; Southern Health, 17; University Hospital Southampton, 202.
The R number in the south-east has risen to between 1.3 and 1.5 meaning that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 13 and 15 other people. The growth rate in the south east region is now between +5% and +8%, meaning the number of new infections is growing by up to 8% every day.
Regarding Covid patients admitted to hospital, the latest figure is 51 reported on Monday, up 11 on Sunday, in the south-east region, which includes Hampshire. There are today 347 with the condition in hospital, up 28 on yesterday, with 19 on ventilators, up one, 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, 734 (53.1 per 100,000 people), Portsmouth, 79 (36.8) and Southampton, 124 (49.1). The Winchester district figure, the city council area, is 80, a rate of 64.1, higher than the other three areas mentioned. But all the Hampshire figures are below the national average.
Other coronavirus news:
Cases at Winchester University reaches 15.
Two more schools report Covid cases.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here