One new coronavirus death and more cases recorded in 24 hours in Berkshire

One new coronavirus -related death has been recorded in the last 24 hours in Berkshire, according to the new official figures released today (September 1).

The death was recorded in a hospital run by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust.

There were 12 new positive Covid-19 tests carried out in the county.

Four out of six areas of Berkshire have seen a rise in cases, bringing the number of positive tests to 3,709.

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UK-wide, three more people have died in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 41,504.

No new deaths have been recorded in Berkshire.

A total of 337,168 people are confirmed to have had the virus since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 1,295 since yesterday.

This is how the figures break down in terms of cases for each area of Berkshire:

Reading : 864 cases (increase of one )
Slough : 764 cases ( increase of five)
Wokingham : 641 cases (increase of four)
West Berkshire : 531 cases (no change)
Windsor and Maidenhead: 504 cases (no change)
Bracknell Forest : 414 cases (increase of two)
The total number of deaths at Berkshire NHS trusts is 574, as detailed below:

Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust: 365
Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust: 190 (last new death August 31)
Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust: 20

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said work on a Covid-19 vaccine “continues to progress”.

He said: “The best-case scenario remains a vaccine this year. While no vaccine technology is certain, since the House last met vaccine trials have gone well.

“The Oxford vaccine continues to be the world leader and we’ve now contracted with six different vaccine providers, so that whichever comes off we can get access in this country. While we give vaccine development all our support, we will insist on safety and efficacy.”

He spoke about proposed changes to legislation in the coming weeks, adding: “To ensure that a vaccine approved by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) can be deployed here whether or not it has a European licence because the MHRA standards are equal to the highest in the world.”

He added: “On the development of the vaccine which proceeds at pace, I will shortly ask the House to approve a broader range of qualified clinical personnel who can deploy the vaccine in order of clinical priority.”