Weekly Coronavirus cases have decreased for the first time in 4 weeks in Loughborough, with just 25 more individuals testing positive in Loughborough, down from 36 the week before.
25 positive cases were confirmed last week across Loughborough, of which none were located in the Loughborough University area which covers campus accommodation, William Morris Hall and the Old Ashby Road area.
The major increases that were seen in Shelthorpe and Lemyngton last week initially prompted Charnwood Council to open a walk-in testing site in the town, but whilst both have a significant number of cases, they are much lower than their respective peaks.
Cases have also plateaued across Charnwood, with just 71 new cases in the last week, down from 93 the week before, meaning it is unlikely to be placed on a watchlist – although the fortnightly rate remains high.
This comes after heated debate within government circles as to whether the reproduction rate of the virus has decreased since the introduction of the ‘rule of 6’, and to what extent the introduction of new students to campus will affect the case numbers.
Universities across the country have been heavily affected, with community transmission increasing exponentially – and the worry is that the same could happen in Loughborough.
Around 1,700 students have been forced to self-isolate at Manchester Metropolitan University, with 127 confirmed cases, and Glasgow University has over 900 students self-isolating with 172 confirmed cases.
In Leicester, both universities have reported a small number of cases, and at the University of Nottingham an ‘unconfirmed’ number of tests have been returned positive.
Despite the rise elsewhere, the Loughborough University area has now reported less than 2 cases in the last week, meaning it is ‘case-free’ for the first time in three weeks. The campus area has now only reported 12 cases since the end of August.
However due to the reporting method by Public Health England, which only reports a 7-day rolling total and excludes case numbers from areas with less than 2 cases, it is possible that the real figures are higher than the statistics suggest.
The Local Council has been delivering leaflets to residents advising them to stay safe and aware of the COVID-19 threat to Loughborough.
The County Council’s Director of Public Health, Mike Sandys, said that “it’s up to us all to fight this virus. We’re in it for the long haul and it’s in our hands around reducing the infection rate.
“We all need to wash our hands regularly, use a face covering when social distancing is not possible and try to keep your distance from those not in your household.”
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, 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.
