Local virus figures down, in mirror of the national trend

A NATIONAL reduction in the number of new coronavirus cases being recorded every week is being reflected in the local data – although case rates still remain high in some areas.

Ashbourne South, Ashbourne North, and all the neighbouring political wards – the areas used to plot a national picture of the spread of Covid-19 – have seen small declines in positive Covid cases in the last seven days up to Monday.

However there are still a few hotspots, including the small, urban Ashbourne South ward, which has seen 31 people testing positive in the last week.

This brings its rolling rate measured per 100,000 to 412.9. Last month, by comparison, it reached a peak of 546.2.

Figures are lower in other areas. In the more rural, larger Ashbourne North ward, which encompasses villages such as Parwich, Hognaston and Biggin, 23 cases in a week brought the rolling rate down to 321.

The majority of the town’s neighbouring wards are now below 400.

Some areas a short distance from Ashbourne, however have much higher rates. Allestree North has a rolling rate of 803.1 and Rollestonon-dove and Tutbury’s rolling rate is at 836.9.

But there are small pockets of the Covid map already starting to see the virus slip away. One of the handful of spots in the East Midlands with a rolling rate below 100 is Lenton and Dunkirk, which has a rolling rate of just 79.8.

In line with the current national reduction in cases, the Derbyshire Dales’ rolling rate now sits at 428, with 310 cases recorded in the last week, down from a peak rolling rate last month of 552.3.

And Derbyshire’s peak last month of 586.7 has now fallen to 440.2.

Nationally there have been 9.3 million cases in total and 142,000 deaths in the official UK figures released by the Government.