Cookham Discussion Board

ALMOST 700 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Berkshire in the past 24 hours, the latest figures show.

Slough has had the highest number of cases in the last 24 hours (167) followed by Reading (154), and then Wokingham (92).

Over the past 24 hours, Public Health England has recorded 660 lab-confirmed cases in areas including Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Slough, and Windsor and Maidenhead.

These figures, correct as of 4pm on Wednesday, January 20, bringing the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 44,313.

The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

Bracknell - 88 cases, 5,689 total
Wokingham - 92 cases, 6,684
Reading - 154 cases, 8,476
Slough - 167 cases, 11,77
Windsor and Maidenhead - 77 cases, 6,836
West Berkshire - 82 cases, 4,851
The latest seven-day rate per 100,000 people locally are as follows:

Bracknell - 426.8 (compared to 439.8 on January 19)
Reading - 682.4 (712.1 on January 19)
Wokingham - 366.4 (379.3)
West Berkshire - 313.7 (320.6)
Slough - 1,029.8 (1,044.5)
Windsor and Maidenhead - 422 (446.4)
Click here for the latest updates in Bracknell

In today's national coronavirus news

The Government said a further 1,820 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 – the highest number of UK deaths reported on a single day since the outbreak began.

Sir Patrick Vallance said the country still has a long way to go in battling coronavirus – describing scenes in some hospitals as a “war zone” – but added there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.

It comes as calculations by the PA news agency show the Government needs to hit an average of 384,000 first doses per day to reach a target of vaccinating 15 million of the most vulnerable by February 15.

New figures released on Wednesday show the total number of people given first doses in Great Britain now stands at nearly 4.5 million.

The Government has pledged that all those in the top priority groups, including the over-70s and frontline health and social care workers, will have received an offer to have had their first dose of the jab given to them by mid-February.