There are more than 150 extra coronavirus cases in Reading than previously thought, after new data was revealed yesterday.

The number of Covid-19 cases in Reading has gone up from 596 last week to 764 this week, after public testing figures – known as Pillar 2 – were finally included by Public Health England.

Five cases have been found in the last week, on June 28 and June 27, but 163 additional historic cases have been added to the data.

Reading Borough Council (RBC) has reassured residents there is no current spike in cases, after approving a local outbreak control plan for the town.

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Councillor Graeme Hoskin, RBC’s lead member for Health, said: “Covid-19 data and intelligence is evolving all the time.

“The council receives daily information on the number of new cases in Reading that are feeding into the national Test & Trace programme from any testing facility.

“We do see pillar 2 data but are restricted by central government on what data can be released at this point. In addition, we still require more information on the data itself.

“We can confirm however we are not seeing any spikes in new cases in Reading at this time or exceedances above expected background levels of infection.

“The council’s public health team is working closely with PHE to ensure we get the full details on anyone testing positive on a case by case basis to help inform our local management”.

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The new figures, released yesterday (July 2), now include hospitals, care homes and the community, after previously only including testing in hospitals.

In West Berkshire, there are now 471 cases, a smaller leap of less than a hundred, while there have been 584 cases in Wokingham, up by more than a hundred.

The data was released after criticism that local authorities and businesses could not accurately predict a potential spike in cases.

The case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.