South Tyneside's weekly coronavirus infection rate falls substantially

Latest Public Health England figures for Monday, October 19, show that the number of new infections across the borough fell from 417 in the week ending October 8 to 346 for the week ending October 15.

The rolling rate, expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people, fell over the same period from 276.2 to 229.2.

The drop follows a caution-filled announcement by Health Secretary Matt Hancock that there are “early signs” that local lockdown restrictions across the North East are starting to work.

In Newcastle, for instance, the rolling rate has dropped over the same period from 545.8 (1,652 new cases) to 348.4 (1,055 new cases).

Nottingham, which still the largest rolling rate, also saw a fall from 1001.2 (3,333 new cases) to 711.3 (2,368 new cases) between October 8 and October 15.

The figures, for the seven days to October 15, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent four days (October 16-19) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

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