Will lockdown be lifted as Kent peak appears to pass?
The coronavirus pandemic in Kent has likely passed an initial peak, new figures suggest. As lockdown restrictions are expected to be eased later this month, the number of people dying in the county each day from Covid-19 continues to fall. Confirmed cases have also dropped significantly, signalling an apparent turn in the tide against the deadly virus.
But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the next stage “won’t be easy” as people attempt to adjust to a “new normal”. He was speaking at a government briefing this week as the death toll in the UK rose above 30,000 - the highest in Europe. In Kent at least 817 have lost their lives, with that number set to rise when figures for non-hospital deaths in the last two weeks are released.
But analysis of the data suggests a peak of the virus - in terms of deaths and confirmed cases - has passed.
In the week leading up to April 10 a total of 231 people died in Kent, with 35 tragically losing their lives in the single deadliest day at the county’s hospitals. But in the fortnight that followed, the weekly death toll dropped to 208, and then again to 171.
At the same time, the number of people in Kent testing positive for Covid-19 dropped from a peak of 207 a day on April 17 to fewer than 40 a day last week.
The numbers in Kent largely follow a trend seen across the UK, which is likely to inform any decisions taken on how lockdown restrictions can be eased. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to review social distancing measures today (Thursday), but is not expected to unveil plans for a “roadmap” out of lockdown until Sunday.
It is thought he will set out a “menu of options” on how this can be achieved, with the reopening of schools and businesses likely to be top of the agenda.
On Sunday, cabinet minister Michael Gove warned that people would have to live with “some degree of constraint” until they can be immunised against the deadly disease – suggesting Britons would have to accept a “new normal”.
On the same day it was announced a contact-tracing app - alerting people when they come into contact with someone who has coronavirus symptoms - would be trialled on the Isle of Wight this week.