Covid infection rate in the Anglia region falls below 100 for first time since October

The weekly number of new coronavirus infections in the Anglia region has fallen below 100 cases per 100,000 people for the first time since 22 October.

The figures from Public Health England for the week to Sunday 22 February showed 7,280 positive tests for coronavirus in the Anglia region compared to 8,843 the week before.

That represents an infection rate of 99.8 cases per 100,000 across the region although some areas are higher than others.

The infection rate across England in the same period was 112.4 cases per 100,000.

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The infection rate in the region peaked at 842 cases per 100,000 in early January.

The R number, which is a measure of how fast an infection is spreading, has been below 1 in the East of England for the sixth consecutive week. If the R rate is below 1 it means the spread of the virus is slowing.

The R rate for the East has been estimated at between 0.6 and 0.8 for the second week after falling from 0.7 to 0.9 a fortnight ago. It means for every ten people with coronavirus would go on to infect six to eight more.

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The NHS reported on Friday that a further 27 patients has died with coronavirus in hospitals in the Anglia region. That was the lowest daily figure reported by NHS England for the region since just after Christmas.

The number of patients being treated in hospital on Thursday 25 February was 1,344 which is 20% fewer than a week ago.

The number of hospital patients in at it lowest level since before Christmas.

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