FIFTY-SIX positive cases of coronavirus were recorded in Basingstoke and Deane yesterday, December 28.

Between December 22 and December 28, 473 people tested positive for Covid-19, which is 179 cases more than the seven days previous which is 60.9 per cent increase.

Nine people have died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in the last seven days in Basingstoke and Deane.

The borough has a rolling rate of 270.1 cases per 100,000 people which is slightly above the UK average.

On the Governments interactive map Bramley, Sherfield and the Sherbornes appear as hotspots with an above average rolling rate of 783.5.

The rise in cases comes as England’s hospitals deal with more Covid-19 patients than during the April peak of the first wave.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has warned that doctors and nurses are “back in the eye of the storm”.

Figures from NHS England show there were 20,426 patients in NHS hospitals in England as of 8am on Monday, compared with 18,974 patients recorded on April 12.

The number of further lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus recorded in a single day in the UK also hit a new high of 41,385 as of 9am Monday, rising above 40,000 for the first time.

According to Government figures the current UK death toll now stands at 71,109.