No Covid-19 recorded deaths in latest stats
West Berkshire figures coronavirus-clear for a second week
NO people from West Berkshire have died with coronavirus recorded on their death certificate in the last two weeks.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data released on Tuesday says that no Covid-19 deaths were registered in the week ending June 26 or registered up to July 4.
No coronavirus deaths were recorded in the previous week, the first time that no Covid-19 deaths were recorded in the district for three months.
The number of coronavirus deaths in the district remains at 131.
The ONS data shows that 64 people from West Berkshire have died with coronavirus in care homes, 59 in hospitals, six at home, one death recorded as elsewhere and one in a hospice.
The data records the number of deaths involving coronavirus, based on any mention of Covid-19 on the death certificate.
The first coronavirus death in the district occurred in hospital and was reported in the week ending March 20, three days before the lockdown began.
The number of lab-confirmed coronavirus cases in West Berkshire is 87 higher than previously stated, rising from 385 to 472.
This is because, since Thursday, official data now includes both Pillar 1 data (tests that are taken in Public Health England and NHS labs, NHS hospitals and results from NHS care and health workers) and Pillar 2 data, which relates to testing done in the wider community.
The data does not include figures from Pillars 3-5, which includes antibody tests, surveillance and diagnostics.
Although the overall figure of 472 is higher than previously announced, West Berkshire Council is offering reassurance to residents that there is not a significant increase in risk to the district and that local services remain well-equipped to meet demand.
Executive member for public health and wellbeing Howard Wollaston (Con, Lambourn) said: “We appreciate that this increased figure may be worrying to some in our local community, but we would like reassure our residents that infection rates in West Berkshire remain lower than the regional and national average.
“We’ve been very proud of everyone in the district and the efforts that have been made to minimise the spread of Covid-19 in the area. There is therefore no need to be alarmed by these figures as they do not represent a sudden increase in cases.
“Our Local Outbreak Control Plan was published on June 30 and we are confident that we have the local mechanisms in place to cope with any further local outbreak of the virus and will continue to support our community in every way possible.
“We would encourage residents to sign up to our e-bulletin to ensure that they will receive timely updates in the event of any change to local arrangements.”
Berkshire strategic director of public health Tessa Lindfield said: “We’re pleased that this Covid-19 data is becoming more available to public health teams in Berkshire and across the country.
“We have been working with Public Health England in recent weeks to finalise data sharing arrangements for this new data and now that we have those, we are able to use the data in a positive way to inform our planning purposes as well as to inform the public.”
I The number of people from neighbouring Basingstoke and Deane who have died with coronavirus recorded on their death certificate has risen to 117.
This is an increase of one registered death involving Covid-19 in one week, and took place in a hospital.
However, the total number of deaths has risen by two as a historic death in a hospital has been added to the latest figures.
A total of 78 people from the borough have now died with coronavirus in hospitals, 33 in care homes, three in hospices, two at home and one in ‘another communal establishment’.