Weekly Coronavirus cases have increased at a slower rate this week in Loughborough, with 284 more individuals testing positive in Loughborough – up 16 from the week before.
Of the positive cases confirmed last week across Loughborough, 128 were located in the Loughborough University area which covers campus accommodation, William Morris Hall and the Old Ashby Road area.
This is up 17 cases compared to the previous week, and means the Loughborough University area has the 11th highest number of cases in England, leading the Council’s Director of Public Health to warn the district ‘could move into Tier 2’.
The University has separately reported 391 positive cases within the last 10 days amongst the student population through their ‘Connect & Protect’ system. Of these, 248 remain in isolation because their symptoms started less than 10 days ago.
Elsewhere in Loughborough, Storer & Queens Park (the main part of the student triangle) has seen cases level out completely, with the same number of cases (72) recorded consecutively over the last two recording periods.
Lemyngton and Hastings, Shelthorpe and Woodthorpe, and the Outwoods all have seen declines in weekly cases, with the areas ranging from 18 to 21 new infections.
However, cases have increased across the entirety of Charnwood, with 525 new cases reported last week, up from 448 the week before.
The plateau of cases comes after the government threatened to impose new restrictions on areas that saw large increases of coronavirus cases, with the country now split into three ‘alert levels’, with Loughborough, and more widely Charnwood, put into the ‘medium’ category.
However, Charnwood Borough Council have so far resisted calls to see the area imposed with ‘High’ restrictions, despite the Loughborough area seeing 525 cases per 100,000 in the last week – well above the national average of 168 – and Charnwood itself seeing a rate of 283 per 100,000.
But this could soon change. Mike Sandys, director of public health for Leicestershire County Council, today said that cases are very high in the 17-21s age range, while rates among over-60s have trebled since the end of September.
“Mirroring the national figures, we’re seeing steep rises – and this is particularly true in Charnwood. This could mean the district moves into tier two, but we’ll need to wait to hear from the Government.
“Whatever the restrictions are, it’s important people are sensible. By doing the right thing, we can all play our part to combat this virus. Please continue to wash your hands, keep your social distance and wear a face covering.”
The Leader of Charnwood Borough Council, Cllr Jonathan Morgan, said that “The continuing rise of cases across the borough is a serious concern.
“Obviously, no one wants to see any further restrictions brought in locally, but we need to get on top of the increasing infection rates in the borough. Ultimately it will be the Government’s decision on whether further action is required.
“We will continue to work with Leicestershire County Council, Public Health England and other partners to monitor the case numbers in the borough.”
Label will be updating the figures on our Loughborough Coronavirus Map every weekday with the latest figures, and will post weekly updates on the latest situation across the town each Thursday.
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Notes on Methodology
Cases at the local-level are split into Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs) – small areas with around 7,200 average population.
Counts of between 0 and 2 cases per MSOA are shown as ‘0-2’, to protect the identity of those who have tested positive in that area, and therefore no data is available until cases hit 3 in each MSOA.
Data is collected by Public Health England here, and is updated every 7 days for each calendar week, at a 4 day delay. Weekly data is published on Thursdays. You can download a copy of the latest data for Loughborough here. Data reproduced under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
