Reading cases have spiked following the end of the second lockdown, with numbers of positive tests at their highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.
The government will review coronavirus restrictions on Wednesday, deciding which of the three tiers each area in England will be placed in.
With Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham’s case numbers all rising signifcantly, each could face tougher restrictions, while West Berkshire’s case rate remains low but is also rising.
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In the last week with available data (December 2-8), there have been 322 cases in Reading with a case rate of 199 per 100,000.
This compares to 234 cases the week before (November 25 – December 1).
Reading’s case rate is now above both the average across the South East and in England, placing 56th across the UK.
A week-and-a-half-ago, Reading Borough Council’s (RBC) Public Health Consultant David Munday said Reading was seeing the first signs of a decrease in infection rates.
At that time there was a rate of 130 cases per 100,000 people.
But there has now been an increase in all age groups in Reading.
Elsewhere in Berkshire, Bracknell’s case rate is now even higher than Reading’s, with a rate of 199.9 per 100,000 people from December 2-8.
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Bracknell had 245 cases in the first week since lockdown ended, compared to 127 the week before.
Wokingham cases are also on the rise, with 279 cases – a rate of 163 – compared to 173 cases in the previous week.
Meanwhile, West Berkshire’s case rate remains low, in the bottom 50 in the UK, but have also risen significantly.
There were 156 cases from December 2 to 8, giving West Berks a comparatively low rate of 98.5, but the week before that, there were just 82 cases, showing case numbers are on the up across the region.
Reported case numbers in Reading, Bracknell and Wokingham are now all at their peak since the beginning of the pandemic, surpassing the previous highest levels in early November.
How case numbers have changed over the last three months – a timeline
Here is a look at how case numbers have changed since September in Reading, Bracknell, West Berkshire and Wokingham.
Figures are from the coronavirus.gov.uk dashboard. Testing has increased over the last few months, which accounts for some of the increase in case numbers across the UK.
September 2-8
Reading started the first week of September with the most cases, with Bracknell just behind.
Reading: 35
Wokingham: 21
West Berks: 11
Bracknell: 27
Sep 9-15
Figures fell in all four areas except Bracknell.
This week had the lowest number of cases of any week in the last two months, with 64 cases across the four authority areas.
Reading: 12
Wokingham: 15
West Berks: 10
Bracknell: 27
Sep 16-22
All four local authorities had very similar case numbers to each other this week, with Bracknell going from having the most cases to the least.
Reading: 30
Wokingham: 30
West Berks: 28
Bracknell: 25
Sep 23-29
Until this week’s figures, this was the last time Wokingham had more cases than Reading.
Reading: 46
Wokingham: 56
West Berks: 40
Bracknell: 24
Sep 30 – Oct 6
Reading’s numbers grew by almost 60 cases during this week, taking it back above Wokingham.
Reading: 103
Wokingham: 82
West Berks: 79
Bracknell: 65
Oct 7-13
Reading and Wokingham had a similar number of cases in this week, while West Berks remained largely the same and Bracknell’s increase slightly.
Reading: 121
Wokingham:120
West Berks: 78
Bracknell: 71
Oct 14-20
This was the week saw the biggest increase in cases in Reading, going up by 59.
Reading: 180
Wokingham: 168
West Berks: 109
Bracknell: 110
Oct 21-27
This week saw Wokingham’s cases fall after rising for five consecutive weeks.
Reading: 194
Wokingham: 147
West Berks: 136
Bracknell: 130
Oct 28 – Nov 3
Cases went up in each area except for Bracknell during this week.
Reading: 250
Wokingham: 159
West Berks: 166
Bracknell: 126
Nov 4-10
This week saw Reading’s cases fall for the first time in eight weeks (since September 9-15).
Additionally, Wokingham’s cases surpassed Reading’s for the first time in six weeks (since September 23-29).
In Bracknell, after an encouraging drop in cases last week, case numbers went up again, while West Berks figures remained on an upward trajectory.
Reading: 234
Wokingham: 251
West Berks: 195
Bracknell: 152
Nov 11-17
Reading’s case numbers rose again – to their highest level during the pandemic at the time – while the other three areas saw a fall in cases.
Reading: 262
Wokingham: 204
West Berks: 176
Bracknell: 140
Nov 18-24
Case numbers and rates fell in every authority during this week.
With the five-day time delay, these case numbers were published on November 29 and all four areas were put in tier 2 when the lockdown ended three days later.
Reading: 211
Wokingham: 180
West Berks: 108
Bracknell: 85
Nov 25 – Dec 1
Covid cases went back up again in all areas except West Berkshire.
Reading: 234
Wokingham: 193
West Berks: 82
Bracknell: 127
Dec 2-8
In the latest week of up-to-date data, each area saw a dramatic rise in case numbers, with Reading easily topping its previous highest case numbers of 262 in November.
Bracknell’s cases also reached numbers much higher than previously seen, with 152 in November the previous peak.
And Wokingham also had its highest case number week, with 28 more than its previous peak, also in November.
West Berks bucks the trend, however, with its peak week still in early November.
Reading: 322
Wokingham: 279
West Berkshire: 156
Bracknell: 245
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