University Covid cases jump by 241 in one day in record increase

THE University of Bristol has confirmed 241 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours – the biggest rise to date.

Cases at the university have risen from 1,326 to 1,567 in a day.

However, the University of Bristol has said the daily statistics are primarily based on reports from students and staff themselves and that this data is then reinforced and occasionally added to by Public Health England (PHE).

The University added: “An initial adjustment, using case details recently received from PHE, has now been implemented, resulting in some daily numbers being readjusted retrospectively.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to update our statistics on a daily basis, while amending our own numbers wherever necessary in accordance with PHE adjustments once or twice a week.”

A total of 1,529 students have tested positive for Covid-19 at the University of Bristol now, together with 38 members of staff, taking the total of confirmed cases at the university to 1,567.

The latest update from the University of Bristol yesterday said 50 students had tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours, together with two staff members.

The University of Bristol has been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak since the beginning of October and, on Friday, we were able to reveal how coronavirus cases have soared by 870 per cent at Bristol University in just 16 days.

In recent days, the number of new positive tests among students seemed to have slowed down and the university hadn’t confirmed more than 100 positive tests among its students since Wednesday, October 14, when 126 cases were confirmed.

The biggest rise last week was recorded on Tuesday, October 20, when 83 students tested positive, while Monday saw the smallest rise with 25.

The University of the West of England has reported 249 cases in the past week.

Bristol has also seen a high number of cases in recent days.

Yesterday the city recorded another 222 cases as of 5.30pm Monday.

Public Health England data shows 56 neighbourhoods in the Bristol area recorded more than 10 Covid-19 cases between October 13 and October 20 – that is a rise of 15 neighbourhoods in the space of three days and more than triple what it was at the beginning of October.

At the same time, six areas in the city recorded rolling seven-day infection rates of more than 400, placing them in the highest category on the government map.

This came after two Bristol areas ranked in the coronavirus hotspot list for England as PHE data from Friday showed Bristol city centre had 136 positive tests in seven days – the seventh most of any small area in the country – and Stoke Bishop ranked 15th, with 110 cases in the same period.

Both Bristol city centre and Stoke Bishop both have high student populations, across which coronavirus has been spreading rapidly in recent weeks as the University of Bristol has been dealing with a coronavirus outbreak.

The latest figures from last Friday showed infections of coronavirus were spreading faster in the South West than anywhere else in the UK.

Our region’s R rate has not increased over the past seven days, but it has now been the highest in the country for three consecutive weeks.

More than 50 people in our area were in hospital with confirmed coronavirus last week, with nine of them needing help to breathe.