Is the whole of Essex heading for Tier 3 because Covid-19 rates in Basildon are among the worst in the country ?

  • Anglia

Click here to watch a report by ITV News Anglia reporter Hannah Pettifer

The are fears that one coronavirus hotspot in Essex could mean the entire county moves from Tier 2 restrictions to Tier 3 when the alert system is reviewed next week. 

Basildon in Essex has the highest number of cases per 100,000 population in the region - and the third highest in the country. 

Figures for the week ending 5th December show that Suffolk has 78 cases per 100,000 people, Cambridgeshire and Norfolk both have 102 and Essex as a whole has 190.

But in Basildon, that figure tops 400 cases per 100,000.

Covid 19 testing has been stepped up in Basildon

This week fast testing for people not showing symptoms was rolled out in the town, in the hopes of containing the spread with Essex County Council saying by working closely with the authority in Basildon they can still avoid Tier 3 becoming countywide next week.