AT LAST! - infection rates for Covid-19 are starting to drop sharply.

Across Hampshire there have only been 318 in the last 48 hours; and in the Winchester district the number is just 24, the smallest number in weeks.

The rapid rise in cases of Covid-19 in Alresford has now reversed. It now longer has the fastest-rising numbers in Hampshire and its rate has fallen below the England average.

The currently worst-affected area in the Winchester district is now 'Winchester East' which comprises Winnall, Highcliiffe, Bar End, Wharf Hill and parts of the city centre. In the last seven days there have been 18 cases, a 63.6 per cent increase, or a rolling number of 221.0 per 100,000 which is above the England average. although far lower then the rate in Alresford around a week ago over over 400.

The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 48 hours from 1,678 to 1,702 since March, an infection rate of 1,363.1 per 100,000.

Government figures show that in the seven days to Tuesday November 24 there were 13 cases in Alresford, a fall of 26 on the previous seven days, and a rolling rate of 153.6. By comparison, to show the drop, the figures for Friday November 20 were 40 cases, up 23 on the previous seven days, or 135.3 per cent, a rolling seven-day rate of 472.8 per 100,000 people.

Across the Winchester district the rolling figure is now just 86.5, down from 95.3 the previous day and 113.7 the days before that.

The figures are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

For clarity ‘Winchester district’ comprises more than the built-up 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.

Meanwhile, ten more people are reported to have died in Hampshire of Covid-19 in the last 48 hours. The death toll in the county council area was 864.

In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths is up two at 95.

Across Hampshire there were only 318 new Covid-19 cases have been reported in the HCC area in the last 48 hours, lower than the usual recent figures of more than 400 for any two-day spell.

Figures published by NHS England show that over the last 48 hours two people have been reported to have died in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there have been 207 recorded deaths, up two; 227 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, no change, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 283, up five. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 741 deaths in the NHS across Hampshire.

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