THE recent daily decline of coronavirus in the Winchester district appears to be stopping, according to the latest figures.
Covid-19 has been on the rise again in most places across Hampshire for several days but had been falling in Winchester.
In the seven days to last Friday, December 11, the Press Association national news agency reports there were 84 cases locally, compared to 69 in the previous seven days.
The rate per 100,000 people in the seven days to last Friday December 11 in the Winchester district was 67.3 compared to 202.4 in the worst area, Portsmouth, 196.5 in Havant and 191.3 in Rushmoor. The rate in the previous seven days to December 4 for those four areas was 55.3, 141.9, 126.8 and 79.3.
But Winchester is still in the bottom 20 for infection rates out of more than 300 local authorities across the UK, as are Test Valley and Eastleigh. The Isle of Wight is second bottom.
The rate per 100,000 people in the seven days to last Thursday December 10 in Winchester district was 53.7 compared to 192.6 in the worst area, Portsmouth, 185.4 in Havant and 171.2 in Rushmoor. The rate in the previous seven days to December 3 for those four areas was 59.3, 134.0, 115.7 and 72.9.
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.
The number of coronavirus cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 24 hours from 1,874 to 1,887, an increase of 13, an infection rate since March of 1,511.3 per 100,000.
Last month's worst-affected area of Alresford has now seen fewer than three cases.
In the NHS across Hampshire two people are reported to have died in the last 24 hours. There have been none since the one reported on Saturday in the area covered by the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that includes the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. However the Office for National Statistics says one death in Winchester has been reported.
In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths is now 102. In Portsmouth it is 110, up one, and 136 in Southampton, no change.
So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there have been 226 deaths; 229 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 317.
Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 798 deaths in the NHS across Hampshire.
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