THE trend of Coronavirus numbers to go down continues across the Winchester district.

Twenty-six new cases were reported in the Winchester district, the highest since November 20, but only 172 cases across Hampshire.

As Winchester and Hampshire prepare to come out of lockdown tomorrow, the numbers are similar to those of five to six weeks ago before the second lockdown.

In Alresford, previously a hotspot that saw the closure of Perins Secondary School, there have only been 10 new cases in the seven days to Thursday November 26, a fall of 35, or 77.8 per cent, taking the rolling rate of 118.2 per 100,000 people to below the England average after several days of being well above it.

Perins is due to reopen on Thursday, December 3.

The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 24 hours from 1,711 since March to 1,737, an infection rate of 1,391.2 per 100,000.

In the last seven days there have only been 100 new cases. In the previous seven days the number was 152, showing the steady drop.

The decline has yet to be reflected in the numbers of Covid patients in local hospitals. Latest figures are 69 at Basingstoke and North Hampshire and 39 at RHCH. The figure of 108 is exactly the same as last week. Then there were 54 at each hospital.

The currently worst-affected area in the Winchester district remains 'Winchester East' which comprises Winnall, Highcliffe, Bar End, Wharf Hill and parts of the city centre. In the last seven days there have been 12 cases, a 14.3 per cent drop, or a rolling number of 147.3 per 100,000, still just above the England average.

Across the Winchester district the rolling figure is now 84.1, slightly up on the previous day's 79.3, but down on the previous day's 86.5.

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, three people are reported to have died in Hampshire of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours. The death toll in the county council area was 869.

In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths is up one at 96. In Portsmouth it is 100, up two, and 134 in Southampton, no change.

Figures published by NHS England show that over the last 24 hours no 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 209 recorded deaths; 227 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, no change, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 284, up one. Two people are reported to have died in the care of Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 746 deaths in the NHS across Hampshire.

The numbers of people in hospitals remains high as there will be a time gap before the reduced infection rates are reflected in patient numbers.

On Friday, the latest day for which figures are available, there were 124 Covid admissions at hospitals across the south-east, including Hampshire.There are 1,265 Covid patients on Sunday and 111 on ventilators.