Cookham Discussion Board

MORE than 600 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Berkshire in the last 24 hours.

Public Health England has recorded 641 lab-confirmed cases in areas including Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead.

These figures, correct as of Wednesday, January 13 at 4.30pm, bring the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 38,887, according to Public Health England.

The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

Reading - 198 cases, 7,401 total

West Berkshire - 77 cases,

Wokingham - 76 cases, 6,086 total

Slough - 223 cases, 10,315 total

Windsor and Maidenhead - 77 cases, 6,242 total

There have now been 3,211,576 people across the UK who have tested positive for Covid-19.

The total number of deaths - those with Covid-19 listed on their death certificate - across the UK has now reached 89,243.

The latest seven-day rate per 100,000 people locally are as follows:

Reading - 802.3

West Berkshire - 350.3

Bracknell - 712.4

Wokingham - 549.3

Slough - 1,160.2

Windsor and Maidenhead - 644.6

READ MORE: Update on ambitious plans for Royal Berkshire Hospital upgrade

In today's national coronavirus news:

Boris Johnson said he believed most Britons would rather see a focus on jobs and wage growth than on welfare.

He made the comments in response to a question from Stephen Timms, chairman of the Work and Pensions Committee, on the potential £20 cut to Universal Credit from April.

The Prime Minister said: “I think that what we want to see is jobs, we want to see people in employment, we want to see the economy bouncing back.

“And I think most people in this country would rather see a focus on jobs and a growth in wages, than focusing on welfare, but clearly we have to keep all these things under review.”