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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
National
Jasper King

Coronavirus cases rise in and around Bristol - latest figures

Two areas in the West of England have recorded a rise in coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours.

The government's latest data set released today (Saturday, August 1) show a creeping rise in Bristol and South Gloucestershire.

However, North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset have not seen a rise in coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours.

Cases in Bristol now stand at 1,343, which is four more than on Friday.

There has been one new case in South Gloucestershire, with the number of cases now standing at 762.

Bath and North East Somerset has recorded no new cases, with the total still standing at 349.

No new cases have been recorded in North Somerset, meaning 914 cases have been confirmed there since the start of the pandemic.

The figures account for the 24-hour period up to 9am this morning, and only include lab-confirmed cases.

It comes as government data showed the South West's R number, which is the rate of infection, is the joint highest in the country.

The region's rate was between 0.7 and 1.0 last week, but has risen to between 0.8 and 1.1, in figures released yesterday.

If R is below one the spread of the virus will eventually shrink, because it means each carrier will (on average) infect less than one person.

Separate official figures show Bristol's case rate per 100,000 people is now at 4.1, up from 3.7 last week.

This is still much lower than other parts of the country, however.

The case rate in Manchester, for example, is at 24.5 per 100,000 people.

In other coronavirus news, Bristol care homes have been disproportionately hit by the virus, compared to the overall national picture.

The city has seen 252 coronavirus deaths, 121 of which happened in care homes, according to Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures up to July 17.

This proportion (48 per cent) dwarfs the average across England and Wales, where care home deaths only account for around 30 per cent of the total.

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