NO deaths and 13 new Covid cases in the Winchester district in the last 24 hours.

For now the virus is definitely on the retreat.

The R number, the reproduction rate in the south-east region, has slipped to 0.9-1.1, meaning that at most ten people will infect 11 people and possibly only nine.

The number of cases in the Winchester district edged up from 1,754 to 1,767, an infection rate since March of 1,415.2 per 100,000.

There were 152 reported across the whole Hampshire County Council area.

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.

Hampshire is preparing for the start of a mass vaccination programme before Christmas. The Chronicle has learned from Winchester city councillor Brian Laming that Badger Farm Community Centre will be an immunisation centre. That has yet to be confirmed by the health authorities.

The worst-affected area in the district remains 'Winchester East' comprising Winnall, Highcliffe, Bar End, Wharf Hill and parts of the city centre. The latest available figures show that in the seven days to November 28 there have been 11 cases, down three, a 21.4 per cent fall, giving a rolling number for the week of 135, about the national average. These figures have not been updated today and are the same as those released yesterday.

Across the Winchester district the rolling figure to November 28 is now down to 80.1 per 100,000. In Alresford is has dropped even more sharply to 47.3.

In the last seven days there have only been 89 new cases in Winchester district. In the previous seven days the number was 129, showing the steady decline.

Three new deaths have been reported in the last 24 hours in the Hampshire County Council area bringing the total to 880, of those who died with 28 days of a positive test.

There were two deaths reported by NHS England in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester.

In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths as of today remains at 97. In Portsmouth it is 104, up two for the second day running, and 135 in Southampton, no change.

So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there have been 212 deaths, up two; 227 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, no change, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 291, up three. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 756 deaths in the NHS across Hampshire.

Another school has reported a Covid case, this time Swanmore College, which remains open. Only Perins secondary school closed in the Winchester district with the market town of Alresford at the centre of a hotspot that has now cooled.

The drop in Covid cases has yet to be reflected in the numbers of patients in local hospitals. The latest available 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 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 Wednesday, the latest day for which figures are available, there were 179 Covid admissions at hospitals across the south-east, including Hampshire, up 27 on Monday. Today there were 1,283 Covid patients, down 56 on Wednesday and 107 on ventilators today, down 10 on Wednesday.

Below are the confirmed cases by local authority in the 24 hours to 4.31pm today, Friday December 4:

Basingstoke and Deane: 24 (2,519 in total since start of pandemic)

East Hampshire: 11 (1,549)

Eastleigh: 12 (1,688)

Fareham: 11 (1,425)

Gosport: 7 (1,115)

Hart: 11 (1,003)

Havant: 24 (1,813)

New Forest: 13 (1,881)

Portsmouth: 34 (4,517)

Rushmoor: 13 (1,587)

Southampton: 24 (4,015)

Test Valley: 13 (1,538)

Winchester: 13 (1,767)