Covid-19 in Essex: 'One in 18' have virus in Basildon and Brentwood

About one in 18 people have Covid-19 in parts of Essex, the county's director of public health said.

Dr Mike Gogarty said lateral flow tests carried out showed both Basildon and Brentwood had reached that level.

He expected all of Essex to reach the same infection rate "within a week".

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, about one in 50 people in England have coronavirus. Essex has some of the highest Covid-19 case rates in England.

The latest statistics show that 10 districts in the county had more than 1,000 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in the week to 1 January.

Thurrock reached 1,471.8 cases per 100,000 people, the second-highest rate in England.

Essex had five areas in England's top 10 for case rates and all districts had a rise in case rates week-on-week.

Dr Gogarty said "nearly 6%" of the Brentwood and Basildon's population of 77,000 and 187,000 respectively had tested positive for coronavirus.

He said the figures show residents "should not get close to people" who are not part of their household.

Although Dr Gogarty did not give the number of infections in each district, he said other parts of south Essex had infection rates close to one in 18.

The rest of county was "heading for that figure" with "very rapid increases in cases" in the districts of Tendring and Colchester, he added.

The statistics were drawn from rapid lateral flow tests carried out in Essex.

They work by taking a nose and throat swab, shaking it in fluid until any viral particles come off, and then dropping the fluid on to a plastic stick. They take about half an hour to show a result.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics' random sampling data showed one in 45 people in the East of England has Covid-19.

Dr Gogarty said with schools, shops and hospitality closed, supermarkets were "key as a potential focus for infection".

He said they should "very rigorously reduce the number of people going in".

Krishna Ramkhelawon, director of public health for Southend Borough Council, warned rates would not come down unless residents abided by the new restrictions.

Mr Ramkhelawon said asymptomatic people were a "challenge as they don't know they've got [the virus]".

He added positive tests for coronavirus where people were not showing symptoms had come from "across the age ranges".

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