CORONAVIRUS numbers are dropping in Winchester district but almost every day people continue to die of Covid-19 in Hampshire.
Another six are reported in the last 24 hours to have passed away in the Hampshire County Council area bringing the total to 875, of those who died with 28 days of a positive test.
For the second day, there were no 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.
Thirteen new cases were reported in the Winchester district, but only 149 across Hampshire in the last 24 hours.
The number of cases in the Winchester district increased in the last 24 hours from 1,737 to 1,750, an infection rate since March of 1,401.6 per 100,000.
In the last seven days there have only been 101 new cases in Winchester district. In the previous seven days the number was 142, showing the steady decline.
Another school has reported a Covid case, this time Bishop's Waltham Junior, which remains open. Only Perins secondary school closed in the Winchester district with the market town of Alresford at the centre of a hotspot what 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 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. The latest available figures show that in the seven days to November 26 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.
In Winchester City Council area the figures for deaths as of today is 96, no change. In Portsmouth it is 100, no change, and 135 in Southampton, up one.
So far, at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust there have been 209 deaths; 227 people have died at University Hospital Southampton, no change, whilst at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust the toll is now 286, up two. Since the start of the pandemic, there have been a total of 748 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 Sunday, the latest day for which figures are available, there were 164 Covid admissions at hospitals across the south-east, including Hampshire, up 20 on Friday.There are 1,272 Covid patients on Tuesday, up seven on Sunday and 118 on ventilators on Tuesday, up seven from Sunday.
Other coronavirus news:
Hampshire police chief gives warning over blatant breaches of restrictions
Who will get the vaccine and when
The Hampshire Chronicle live blog from today, the first day post-lockdown
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