Two areas see virus ‘almost eradicated’

AN INTERACTIVE map has shown the two Nottinghamshire neighbourhoods where Covid-19 cases have been almost eradicated.

The map, on the Government’s Covid-19 dashboard, breaks down new Covid-19 cases for each individual area of the country.

It is shown as Middle Layer Super Output Areas, which are areas with an average population of 8,000 people used for censusbased data.

And the map shows two areas of the county have recorded fewer than three Covid-19 cases in the most recent seven-day period.

These areas: Burton Joyce & Lambley; and Ratcliffe, Sutton Bonington & Gotham, are the only two areas of the county where Covid figures have been “suppressed”.

This means the active rate of infection and the number of new cases are not available, to “protect individuals’ identities”. The figures come after health bosses revealed the county’s active R-rate is between 0.8 and 0.9.

This means that, for every case of Covid-19, fewer than one other person is being infected. It is the first time since July last year that the county’s R-rate has fallen below 1. The national R-rate is between 0.7 and 0.9. Separate weekly data has also shown the number of new infections recorded in each local authority area of Nottinghamshire is falling.

Despite this, public health bosses have urged people to stick to the rules, particularly as the city and county’s rates have not dropped as substantially as the rest of the country.

Public health boss Jonathan Gribbin said on Friday: “In Nottinghamshire as a whole, the rates are reducing slower than the rates in other parts of the country. We have to work harder as a community to achieve the same level of reduction.

“Right now we need to keep going with all the rules.”