Covid rates in Wiltshire are beginning to drop but still remain very high, according to the county’s public health boss.

In the last seven days 1,321 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in WIltshire.

This means that the infection rate in Wiltshire stands at 264.2 per 100,000. Nationally, the same figure is 420.7.

This is a marked drop from last week’s figures when the infection rate was 357.6 per 100,000 – a decline of just over 26 per cent.

Kate Blackburn, Wiltshire’s public health director said, however, that the decline is slower than increase seen in December and January.

“I think it’s very important to remember that while the rate is declining, it is still a very high rate,” she said.

“If we think back to the autumn a rate of 20 per 100,000 was deemed very high and warranted immediate action.

“We must remain as vigilant as ever with our actions to keep on minising viral transmission.”

The group with the highest rates continues to be those aged between 20 and 24-years-old, as they are typically the group unable to work from home.

But for the first time this month the rate has dipped below a rate of 600 per 100,000 and now stands at 532.6.

To date, 496 people have died in Wiltshire where Covid-19 was included on the death certificate. An increase of 22 deaths from the previous week.

 

According to the most recent NHS data, across the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group area 63,293 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered. These figures represent data up to January 21, 2021.

The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald:

Of those over 60,000 doses 30,040 are over-80 and another 5,574 have received their second dose.

It is important to note that this data represents the first time vaccine numbers have been broken down by CCG groups rather than regions.

In the south west 210,709 people over 80 have received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine and 41,374 have gotten their second jab.