Coronavirus in Berkshire round up - Wednesday, December 9

[Cookham v Coronavirus]

ALMOST 16,000 people in Berkshire have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the latest figures.

Public Health England has recorded 251 lab-confirmed cases in the past 24 hours in areas including Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead.

These figures, correct as Wednesday, December 9, bring the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 15,965, according to Public Health England.

The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

Reading - 66 cases, 3,073 total
West Berkshire - 39 cases, 1,813 total
Bracknell - 33 cases, 1,701 total
Wokingham - 33 cases, 2,423 total
Slough - 51 cases, 4,352 total
Windsor & Maidenhead - 29 cases, 2,603 total
The latest seven-day rate per 100,000 people locally are as follows:

Reading - 163.8 per 100,000 people
West Berkshire - 57.4 per 100,000 people
Bracknell - 143.6 per 100,000 people
Wokingham - 132.7 per 100,000 people
Slough - 234.7 per 100,000 people
Windsor & Maidenhead - 98.4 per 100,000 people
There have now been 1,766,819 cases of Covid-19 across the UK – as of Wednesday, December 9 at 4pm. This was an increase of 16, 578 cases in the past 24 hours.

The total number of deaths - those with Covid-19 listed on the death certificate - across the UK has now reached 73, 125.

In today's national coronavirus news:

Professor Chris Whitty has said he will take any Covid-19 vaccine offered to him, adding it is a "society" and "political" decision as to when restrictions are lifted.

England's chief medical officer told MPs he would be keen to have a jab to protect himself, as the NHS vaccination programme continues across the UK.

He said that once around 20 million people in at-risk groups, over-50s and health and care workers are vaccinated a decision can then be made about whether tough restrictions are eased.

But he added that "for the next three months, I want to be very clear, we will not have sufficient protection".

It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday he had "high confidence that the summer of 2021 will be a bright one without the sort of restrictions that made the summer of 2020 more restricted".

It came as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) gave precautionary advice to NHS trusts that anyone who has a history of "significant" allergic reactions to medicines, food or vaccines should not receive the jab from Pfizer/BioNTech.

Two NHS workers with a history of serious allergy suffered an allergic reaction after receiving the vaccine on Tuesday as the NHS rollout got under way.

Both had a significant history of allergic reactions, and carried adrenaline auto-injectors with them.

Professor Stephen Powis, national medical director for NHS England, said: "As is common with new vaccines, the MHRA have advised on a precautionary basis that people with a significant history of allergic reactions do not receive this vaccination after two people with a history of significant allergic reactions responded adversely yesterday.

"Both are recovering well."

Prof Whitty told MPs the NHS and the MHRA are in a "very good position" to pick up "extremely rare" issues with any vaccine once it is in use.