Brighton and Hove has averaged fewer than half a dozen new coronavirus cases a day over the past fortnight, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.
In the seven days to Friday (16 April) there were 39 new cases – a rate of 13.4 per 100,000 people.
In the previous seven days, to Friday 9 April, there were 40 new cases – a rate of 13.8 per 100,000 people.
The latest local rate is about half the rate for the country and means that Brighton and Hove remains in the lowest third out of 315 council areas.
The number and rate of new cases over the past month or so have been among the lowest locally since last September when students were returning to university.
And this despite the big rise in the number of tests being carried out – even when compared with just a few months ago.
The total number of confirmed cases of the virus in Brighton and Hove had reached 14,485 by yesterday (Monday 19 April), Brighton and Hove City Council said.
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 at the end of last week that 85,190 people over 50 had been given at least the first dose of a covid vaccination up to Sunday 11 April.
And with crowds returning to the beaches, optimists may take heart from the evidence of one of the government’s scientific advisers to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee in February.
Mark Woolhouse, a professor of infectious disease epidemiology, told MPs: “Over the summer we were treated to all the pictures on the television and in the news of crowded beaches and there was an outcry about this.
“There were no outbreaks linked to crowded beaches. There has never been a covid-19 outbreak linked to a beach ever, anywhere in the world, to the best of my knowledge.
“We have to understand where the risks are and are not so that we can do as much as possible safely without overcompensating.”
