THE number of coronavirus cases being reported in Herefordshire has risen, but still remains below the peak.

The slight rise in the number of people testing positive – from 584 in the seven days to February 26 to 751 in the week to March 5 – comes as the number of tests carried out also fell.

In the seven days to February 23, an average of 2,491.4 tests, either lab-processed PCRs or rapid lateral flows, were taken each day.

But in the seven days to March 2, the most up-to-date figures available, that had fallen to an average of 2,284.7 each day.

One factor which could have contributed to the fall is the dropped guidance for secondary school and college pupils to test twice a week.

OTHER NEWS:

Schools are no longer handing out lateral flow tests for pupils, and the scheme for the wider public will be scrapped at the end of the month.

In the seven days to Saturday, March 5, a UK Government heatmap showed the areas in Herefordshire with the highest number of new Covid cases.

Cases fell in just three of Herefordshire's 23 areas compared with data from February 26.

Current coronavirus hotspots in the county, those with the highest infection rates, include:

  • Colwall, Cradley and Wellington Heath
  • Credenhill, Weobley and Wellington
  • Lugwardine, Withington and Moreton-on-Lugg
  • Hereford East, areas such as Tupsley
  • Kingstone and Kingsthorne

The infection rate – the number of cases per 100,000 people – for those areas were all above the UK average of 432.3.

The only areas which saw a fall in cases over the seven days were Ross-on-Wye, Hereford South West and Leominster South.

The map breaks Herefordshire down into 23 sections known as middle super output areas.

These are used to try and improve the reporting of small area statistics, with an average population of around 7,200 people in England and Wales.

OTHER NEWS:

In total, Herefordshire reported 751 cases in the seven days to March 5, giving it an infection rate of 387.9 cases per 100,000 people.

That was 167 fewer cases than the week before when the infection rate was 301.6. A fortnight ago it was 422.0.

In January, Herefordshire's Covid cases peaked at around 1,432 cases per 100,000.