Winchester schools clear of Covid-19 for first time in weeks: today's numbers Tuesday January 26

The Chronicle has reported the daily figures since last summer and reporting the trend for the numbers to decline around three weeks ago.

Now for the first time in weeks no schools in the Winchester district have reported a case in the last 10 days, the only authority in Hampshire to do so.

But there are some relative hotspots where Covid is persisting and above the England average: Winchester East, Whiteley Knowle and Wickham and Bishop's Waltham and Waltham Chase.

In Winchester East, which covers part of the city centre, Winnall, Highcliffe and Bar End, the rolling seven-day rate per 100,000 rose from 282 the Sunday before last to 405 today, although down from 417 yesterday. In Winchester East in the seven days to Wednesday January 21 there were 35 new cases, up 12, an increase of 57 per cent.

In Whiteley Knowle and Wickham the rolling rate to January 21 is 401. In the seven days to January 21 there were 48 new cases, down eight, or 14 per cent.

In Bishop's Waltham and Waltham Chase, in the same period there have been 28 cases, down seven, for a rolling 289, just above the England average.

Bishop's Waltham and Waltham Chase: above national average

Overall, the rates in the Winchester district are falling so steeply that on the latest available figures there are only 41 areas with a better record out of 315 areas.

Today only 27 new cases were reported, amongst the lowest daily numbers since December 15.

Across the whole district in the seven days to January 21 there were 315 cases, down 49, or 13 per cent for a rolling rate of 252.3 per 100,000 people.

Winchester: Covid falling steadily

The number of cases reported in Winchester district in the last seven days to today, Tuesday January 26, remains lower than in the previous week. Today there were only 27 new cases, taking to 247 the number for the last seven days. The previous week had 392 cases.

Three people were today reported to have died of Covid deaths in Winchester district. The number of deaths from the pandemic in the district is now 142, or 113.7 per 100,000.

The Winchester ‘district’ covers more than just the ‘city’ and covers a chunk of Hampshire from Micheldever to Denmead, and Crawley to Ropley.

Although new cases are falling across most of the district the number of patients at the Royal Hampshire County Hospital remains high. There are currently 100 at the RHCH up from 82 last week. At North Hampshire Hospital in Basingstoke there are 148, down from 152 and one at Andover War Memorial, down from three.

On a day when nationally 100,000 people have died of Covid-19, 27 more patients with coronavirus have died in hospitals across Hampshire, according to the latest NHS figures.

Eight deaths were recorded at Hampshire Hospitals trust that runs the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester. Deaths at Hampshire Hospitals trust are now at 352.

NHS England statistics published today show that five more deaths were recorded at University Hospital Southampton, bringing the total to 362 since the start of the pandemic.

A further 12 deaths were recorded at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, bringing its total to 691.

Two new deaths were recorded at Southern Heath NHS Trust, keeping the total at 42 people. Solent NHS Trust remains at eight.

In the county’s hospitals 1,456 people have died of coronavirus.

Across the Hampshire County Council area 47 deaths were reported today, according to the Office for National Statistics. These are when deaths are reported not when they happened. It brings to 1,755 the death toll in the HCC area since last March, a rate of 126.9 per 100,000 people.

These fatalities would have been people contracting the virus several weeks ago when the number of cases was soaring. Even as new cases decline it will be some time before hospital admissions and deaths match the fall-off.

Across the county council area today 334 cases were reported bringing the total to 52,829, for a rate of 3,821 per 100,000. Some 4,636 have been reported in the seven days to January 21, down 1,572 or 25 per cent, for a rolling number of 335.3, which is still above the England average, but falling.

The number of cases in the Winchester district since the start of the pandemic is now 4,201, an infection rate of 3,364 per 100,000, well below the England average of 5,730.

Deaths reported in Southampton are now 236, up two, or 93.5 per 100,000. In Portsmouth the figure is 262, up nine, for 121.9 per 100,000, now above the Winchester figure of 113.7.