FOR the third day in a row Hampshire has seen more than 200 new cases of Covid-19.

Some 206 were confirmed today bringing the total number since the start of the pandemic to 9,336.

Winchester University now has 19 current cases with six more since yesterday. Seven previous cases have recovered.

The university sent out an email today, stating: "We are continuing to work closely with NHS Test and Trace, Public Health England and our local authority partners.

"We are communicating directly with those who need to change their actions. If you do not hear from the university or NHS Test and Trace there is no need to change your behaviour at this stage."

The university remains open to staff and students.

Meanwhile Kings' secondary school in Winchester and Owslebury primary have reported cases.

Across the south-east region, which includes Hampshire, there are 464 patients in hospital today, up four on yesterday. The latest available figure for the Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester is 33 on Thursday.

Three more deaths have been reported in Hampshire, including one in Winchester and one in Portsmouth.

Twenty-five people have tested positive for the virus in the Winchester district in the last 24 hours. Yesterday's figure was 917, and today the figure released by the Government on its website was 942 since the start of the pandemic in March.

Data shows that the infection rate in the city council district is now 754.4 people in every 100,000 since the start of the crisis. See graph below:

Hampshire Chronicle:

In the Winchester district the number of new cases in the last seven days has been 163 (up 15), with 93 (the same) in the seven days previously.

‘Winchester district’ comprises more than just the city and is the city council area which stretches from Micheldever in the north to Southwick in the south, from Sparsholt in the west to Bramdean in the east.

In the Hampshire County Council area, which includes Winchester, the tally has risen from 9,130 to 9,336 in the last 24 hours, a rise of 206. The previous two days had seen 218 and 271 new cases.

The rate for new cases in the district for the last seven days to Friday October 23, the latest available, is 87.3 people per 100,000 (109 cases). On the week to October 16 the figure was 80.1 (100).

The R number, the reproduction number, in the south-east has dropped slightly to between 1.2 and 1.5 meaning that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 12 and 15 other people. The growth rate in the south east region is now between +4% and +7%, meaning the number of new infections is growing by up to 7% every day.

Nationally, 102 people have died in the UK, bringing the number of confirmed reported deaths to 44,998. There have been 894,690 cases of the virus across the UK. This is an increase of 20,890 in the last 24 hours.

The number of deaths in Hampshire hospitals is now 629. The figure for fatalities at the Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which includes the RHCH in Winchester, is 166. For the other local county trusts: Portsmouth Hospital, 240; Solent, 2; Southern Health, 17; University Hospital Southampton, 204.

Hampshire Chronicle:

Regarding Covid patients admitted to hospital, the latest figure is 65 reported on Saturday, down five on Friday, in the south-east region, which includes Hampshire. There are today 464 with the condition in hospital, up 4 on Sunday, with 15 on ventilators, down five, according to the ONS. The numbers are not broken down for the hospitals in Hampshire.

Total number of deaths since the start of the pandemic of people who had had a positive test result for Covid-19 and died within 28 days of the first positive test, remains: Hampshire, 741, up three (53.6 per 100,000 people), Portsmouth, 79 (36.8) and Southampton, 126 (49.9). The Winchester district figure, the city council area, is 82, a rate of 65.7, higher than the other three areas mentioned. But all the Hampshire figures are below the national average.