PARTS of the Winchester district are reporting Covid rates far above the national average.

The area around Alresford has seen a spike in cases that has seen Perins School become the first secondary school to close completely in central and southern Hampshire.

Perins head Steve Jones took the decision on Wednesday after 50 members of staff and 750 pupils were having to self-isolate.

Government figures released today reveal that in the seven days to Sunday November 15 there were 27 cases of Covid-19 in the Alresford area, a weekly increase of 20, or 222 per cent, on the previous week, with a rolling average of 342.7 per 100,000 people, well ahead of the national average.

The Alresford area also includes Northington, Bighton, Gundleton, Tichborne, Cheriton, Bishop's Sutton and Bramdean.

Three more schools have reported Covid cases today: Swanmore College, Compton primary and Shepherds Down special school.

Two new deaths have been reported in the Winchester City Council area, bringing the total to 92.

‘Winchester district’ comprises more than the 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.

Across the Hampshire County Council area, three deaths have been reported, bringing the total to 826.

The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased by 26 from 1,540 to 1,566, an infection rate of 1,254.2 per 100,000 since the start of the pandemic in March.

The latest available figure for Covid patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester is 57 on Monday, down on 63 last Wednesday.

Some 43 Covid patients are at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke.

The latest available data from Public Health England shows that the infection rate in the Winchester district in the seven days to November 15 is 252 cases or 201.8 in every 100,000 people. That compares to 192 people in the previous seven days, or a rate of 154.6. It is fifth highest in Hampshire after Portsmouth, Havant, Southampton and Gosport.

Another three people are reported to have died of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours across the Hampshire County Council area, according to Government figures released this evening.

The death toll in Hampshire has risen from 823 to 826. Some 246 new Vovid-19 cases have been reported in the HCC area, up from 15,430 to 15,676 since the start of the pandemic in March.

Figures published by NHS England show that over the last 24 hours three people have died in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester, but none in both Portsmouth and Southampton.

So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the RHCH in Winchester, there have been 196 recorded deaths, up three; 224 people have died at University Hospital Southampton whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll now stands at 266. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 707 deaths across Hampshire.

Comparison of the number of new cases has proved impossible in recent days after a change in the way the statistics are gathered. Public Health England says it has updated the way it records the location of people who have been tested for Covid-19 meaning counts of cases and deaths have been altered. And often the numbers released by the NHS do not match the daily numbers issued by Public Health England and local government.

The number of reported deaths in the Winchester district is at 92 today. Other areas: Portsmouth: 92, same; Southampton: 132, same, and Hampshire 826 (including Winchester), up three.
The numbers of Covid sufferers being admitted to hospital has again increased. There were 164 on Wednesday up from 130 on Sunday in hospitals across the south-east region. Today there are 1,108 patients in south-east hospitals, up 24. Ninety-four are on life support through ventilators, up five on Wednesday.

The latest figure for Covid patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital is 57 on Monday down on 63 last Wednesday. Some 43 Covid patients are at the North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke.

Some good news though. The R number in the south-east has slipped down to 1.1-1.3 meaning ten people will infect between 10 and 13 other people.


Other coronavirus news:
Perins in Alresford is first local school, and secondary school in central and southern Hampshire, to be closed.
Read more here