Hundreds of new coronavirus cases have been recorded in Bristol as the national figure surged above 50,000.
The official Government figures published today (Thursday, December 2) account for a 24-hour period, and showed 320 positive tests in the city within that period.
In the wider West of England region, South Gloucestershire had the second-highest rise in cases after Bristol, at 259.
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Of all four local authorities that make up the region, a total of 889 cases were recorded - down from the 901 cases reported yesterday and 702 the day before.
While the cases had decreased slightly day-on-day overall, the number in Bristol crept up from 306 to 320.
No new coronavirus-related deaths were recorded in the West of England today.
The full breakdown of coronavirus case numbers in the Bristol area is below, including the total number accumulated during the pandemic alongside the daily rise in brackets:
- North Somerset - 29,184 (+180)
- Bristol - 77,329 (+320)
- Bath and North East Somerset: 28,387 (+130)
- South Gloucestershire - 44,027 (+259)
It comes as a further seven cases of the Omicron variant are confirmed in England, and another three in Scotland, bringing the total so far in England to 29 and 13 in Scotland.
In England, cases have been identified in the East Midlands, East of England, London, South East and North West, with no cases reported yet in the South West.
Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said: “We are continuing our efforts to understand the effect of this variant on transmissibility, severe disease, mortality, antibody response and vaccine efficacy.
“Vaccination is critical to help us bolster our defences against this new variant – please get your first, second, third or booster jab without delay.
"It is very likely that we will find more cases over the coming days as we are seeing in other countries globally and as we increase case detection through focused contact tracing. That’s why it’s critical that anyone with Covid-19 symptoms isolates and gets a PCR test immediately.”
Nationally another 53,945 coronavirus cases have been recorded today, bringing the total since the pandemic began to 10,329,074.
A further 141 people have died within 28 days of a positive test, meaning the death toll is now at 145,281, only including those who had a positive test.
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