Infections falling but still too high
Virus infection rates are continuing to fall across our region, but remain far higher than the national average.
The rate of decline is also levelling off a little, although figures are now up to five times lower than they were a month ago.
Corby in Northamptonshire continues to have the highest rate in England, with 238 new cases recorded in the seven days to February 18 – the equivalent of 329.6 cases per 100,000 people.
Sandwell in the Black Country now has the fourth highest rate in England – and it is joined by Walsall, Wolverhampton and Telford & Wrekin in the country’s 40 worst hit areas.
Of the 315 local areas in England, 43 – or 14 per cent – have seen a rise in case rates. A total of 267 have seen a fall and five are unchanged. Of the 43 areas to record a week-on-week rise, the top five include the Malvern Hills, where the rate has risen from 104.2 to 136. Herefordshire has also seen a significant increase.
Separate figures released by the Office for National Statistics reveal the number of deaths involving Covid-19 registered each week in England and Wales has dropped by nearly a quarter.
A total of 5,691 deaths were registered in the week ending February 12.
This is down 22 per cent from 7,320 deaths in the previous week, and is the lowest figure since the week to January 1. Care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 have also fallen week on week, down nearly a third from 2,175 to 1,491.
The ONS figures are based on all deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate.
Coronavirus is recorded as the underlying cause in around nine in 10 of these deaths.
Figures for the whole of the UK confirm that Covid-19 deaths during the current wave of the virus peaked on January 19, when 1,447 deaths occurred.
During the first wave of the virus, the daily death toll peaked at the slightly higher number of 1,457 on April 8 2020. A total of 138,468 deaths had occurred in the UK by February 12 where Covid-19 had been mentioned on the death certificate. Separate data published by the Government show that, as of February 22, 120,757 people had died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
