Coronavirus: West Sussex cases top 5,000

The county's seen its highest weekly rise in infections

Dr McMahon expressed his condolences to people who lost loved ones during the pandemic
Author: Ryan BurrowsPublished 26th Oct 2020

More than 5,000 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in West Sussex since the start of the pandemic.

The latest data from Public Health England showed the total number of confirmed cases in the county at 5,043 as of 9am on Sunday morning.

The number has jumped by 528 in the last seven days, the highest weekly rise in infections here since the first case was recorded here - a nurse at Worthing Hospital who tested positive back in March.

In addition, the latest figures show Mid Sussex as being the first district in the county to have reached 1,000 infections, with 1,009 being recorded there.

As of Sunday, the county's rate of infection stood at 583.7 per 100,000 people, below both the England average of 1315.2 and the South East average of 721.5.

The health body is now including Pillar 2 tests – those carried out by commercial partners – alongside Pillar 1 tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme.

​West Sussex's cases were among the 66,238 recorded across the South East, a figure which rose by 7,759 over the previous week.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.

Here's how many cases have now been recorded in each different area of West Sussex (figures in brackets show the infection rate per 100,000 people):

Mid Sussex: 1,009 (668.1)

Horsham: 943 (655.8)

Crawley: 784 (697.5)

Worthing: 720 (651.2)

Arun: 672 (418)

Chichester: 583 (481.3)

Adur: 332 (516.3)