The number of new coronavirus cases in Brighton and Hove has doubled in under a fortnight, according to figures from Public Health England.
The vast majority of new covid-19 cases were among those under 30 and the biggest rise was among under 15s.
The older age groups – most likely to have had a covid vaccination – have been the least affected by the increase in the rate of new infections.
And even among those found to have the virus, few – if any – have been admitted to hospital in the past three months.
NHS figures show that the Royal Sussex County Hospital has not recorded any cases in intensive care for more than three months – although if the number of patients is five or under, the figures are “suppressed”.
The rise in the number of new cases comes as some public health experts have expressed concern about recent variants in the virus.
But the relatively small number of overall cases in Brighton and Hove has been recorded as thousands take tests each week whether or not they have symptoms.
The most recent figures from Public Health England, published today (Tuesday 8 June), indicated that 80 new cases were confirmed in the seven days to Friday 4 June.
This was up from 57 new cases in the seven days to Friday 28 May – and 31 new cases in the week to Saturday 22 May.
The latest rate is 27.5 cases for every 100,000 people in Brighton and Hove compared with 10.7 in the week to Saturday 22 May.
Four people who died had covid-19 mentioned on their death certificate in the most recent eight weeks of data for Brighton and Hove, up to Friday 21 May.
The toll since the start of the pandemic locally has now reached 470.
