The number of confirmed new cases of the coronavirus in Brighton and Hove has dropped again, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.
In the seven days to Saturday 17 April there were just 31 new cases of the virus – or an average of four to five a day.
The rate of 10.7 cases for every 100,000 people compares with a rate of 15.1 for the previous seven days when there were 44 new cases of covid-19 – or six to seven a day.
On Saturday there were no new covid cases at all – although confirmed cases have been recorded since then.
But the current rate – about half the national average – places Brighton and Hove among the 20 per cent of councils with the lowest rate of new infections.
And the drop in new cases has been recorded against a backdrop of thousands of people testing for the virus every week, including hospital staff and carers.
Brighton and Hove City Council said that, up to Wednesday (21 April), in total, there had been 14,499 confirmed cases locally since the start of the pandemic.
The number of deaths with covid-19 mentioned on the death certificate totals 463 to Friday 9 April, with no deaths recorded since the week ending Friday 26 March, when there were two.
Fewer than five coronavirus patients are being treated at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, in Brighton.
And there have been no covid patients in high dependency or intensive care at the Royal Sussex since Friday 12 March.
The NHS said yesterday (Thursday 22 April) that 85,418 people over 50 had been given at least the first dose of a covid vaccination up to Sunday 18 April.
