West Sussex records over 900 new Covid-19 cases in just two days
It's the highest weekend rise since the pandemic started
The number of recorded coronavirus cases in West Sussex jumped by 901 over the weekend, official figures show.
Public Health England figures show that 12,300 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Monday (December 21st) in West Sussex, up from 11,399 the same time on Friday.
The total is the highest weekend rise recorded in the county since the start of the pandemic and more than treble the 271 recorded over the last weekend period between December 12th and 13th.
In one part of the county - Adur - case numbers have more than trebled in the space of seven days, from 37 to 118.
The rate has also more than doubled in Arun, Crawley and Mid Sussex in that time.
It comes amid warnings that the county, which currently finds itself under Tier 2 restrictions, may well be placed into Tier 4 from January.
The Government's Chief Scientific Officer, Sir Patrick Vallance, said he expects restrictions to be tightened as a new, more infection spread of coronavirus starts to become more prevalant.
The measures, which force gyms, salons and non-essential shops to close, are already in force in areas which border West Sussex such as Havant, Portsmouth, most of Surrey and Hastings and Rother in East Sussex.
Public Health England 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.
The rate of infection in West Sussex now stands at 1,424 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 3,149.
Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 96,344 over the period, to 2,073,511.
West Sussex's cases were among the 206,209 recorded across the South East, a figure which rose by 17,408 over the period.
Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.
Here's how many coronavirus cases have been recorded in each area of West Sussex in the past seven days (figures in brackets show figures and changes from the seven days before)
Adur: 118 (37, + 218.9%)
Arun: 320 (144, + 122.2%)
Chichester: 128 (91, + 40.7%)
Crawley: 240 (116, + 106.9%)
Horsham: 155 (145, + 6.9%)
Mid Sussex: 363 (148, + 145.3%)
Worthing: 124 (65, +90.8%)