11 months ago today, the first COVID-19 case was confirmed in Swindon and the past week has seen a total of 417 new cases.
The case rate has fallen from 481 in in the last seven days up to January 29th.
Talking of the challenge over the past 11 months, Steve Maddern, Director of Public Health at Swindon Borough Council said: “It has been a long, challenging road since then and as we continue through this third period of national lockdown restrictions, we know that there is no quick fix to both getting, and keeping, the virus under control.
“While the national restrictions are having an impact on reducing the case rate in Swindon, we need to maintain that progress to reduce our case rate as far as possible.”
Swindon’s seven-day rolling average case rate is now at 187.1 per 100k, down from 216 per 100k last Friday.
Across the South West the rate is currently 162.0 per 100k and nationally, 242.7 per 100k.
The Great Western Hospital (GWH) currently have seven wards dedicated to COVID-19 and is currently treating over 100 confirmed and suspected patients, including nine patients in intensive care.
Across the UK, there are over 31,000 COVID-19 patients in hospital including over 3,600 patients on ventilation.
Almost 11 million people across the UK have now had a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine with the government aiming to have offered a first vaccine dose to everyone in the top four priority groups most at risk from coronavirus by February 15th.
These top four groups account for 88 per cent of COVID deaths, which is why the vaccines will play such a crucial role in saving lives and reducing the demand on the NHS.
