Delta variant cases double in a week in the ITV Anglia region

  • Anglia
A mobile Covid-19 vaccination centre outside Bolton Town Hall, Bolton, where case numbers of the Delta variant first identified in India have been relatively high. Picture date: Wednesday June 9, 2021. Read less Picture by: Peter Byrne/PA Wire/PA Images Date taken: 09-Jun-2021

The number of cases of the Delta or Indian variant of coronavirus in the Anglia region passed more than 1,100 in the latest weekly figures - an increase of 98%.

Figures from the Wellcome Sanger Institute in Cambridge show there were 1,105 cases of the Delta variant in the week to 5 June in the Anglia region compared with 559 cases during the previous week.

The near doubling of cases in the region follows last week's data which appeared to show the prevalence of the variant has levelled off in Eastern England but now there has been a resurgence.

There is a time lag with the release of data involving the Indian or Delta variant because it takes longer to analyse the genetic make-up of the positive test sample. The variant is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in the region.

The 1,105 cases represented about 60% of the total confirmed cases in the Anglia region in that week.

Overall the rolling weekly total of positive cases in the Anglia region has been rising every day since 22 May compared to the previous seven days.

The rising number of cases and the impact of variants are among the factor being used to decide when the final pandemic restrictions are to be lifted. Another element will be the number of hospitalisations.

The number of Covid-19 admissions to hospitals in the East of England has risen by nearly 50% in the fortnight to 9 June. There were 49 patients in hospital in 11 June which is about the same as September 2020. In January 2021 there were more than 4,000 Covid-19 patients in the region's hospitals.

Map of the areas in the ITV Anglia region where the Covid Indian variant has been detected

The highest concentration of cases in the Eastern Counties remains in Bedford where there were 201 instances of the variant B1617.2, which was first detected in India and has now be designated the Delta variant by the World Health Organisation. There were 170 cases in Bedford in the previous week and 279 the week before that

Elsewhere in Bedfordshire, there were 98 cases in Central Bedfordshire, an increase of 47 compared with the week before, and in Luton there were 122 cases, an increase of 38.

Bedford Borough is among a number of areas of England where people are being asked to take extra precautions to stop the spread of Covid. They include only meeting outside, staying at least 2 metres away from people outside your own household and limiting travel in or out of the affected area.

Only three areas in the ITV Anglia region did not record any cases of Delta variant during the week to 5 June - Babergh and Ipswich in Suffolk and Rutland.

In some areas, the Delta variant was the only strain of coronavirus found in positive tests including Cambridge (3 cases), Colchester (12), East Hertfordshire (29), Great Yarmouth (5) and Maldon (14).

The Anglia region consists of the East of England counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk along with Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and Rutland

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