Coronavirus in Berkshire round up - Thursday, February 4

A TOTAL of more than 50,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Berkshire, according to the latest figures.

Public Health England has recorded 340 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 of 4pm on Thursday, February 4, bring the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 50,344.

The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

Reading - 68 cases, 9,884 total
Bracknell - 40 cases, 6,384 total
Wokingham - 43 cases, 7,433 total
West Berkshire -52 cases, 5,551 total
Slough - 87 cases, 13,514 total
Windsor and Maidenhead - 50 cases, 7578 total

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

Reading - 370.9 (Compared to 717.6 on January 9)
Bracknell - 238.3 (Compared to 819.3 on January 9)
Wokingham - 191.7 (Compared to 602.5 on January 9)
West Berkshire - 179.9 (Compared to 421 on January 9)
Slough - 482.8 (Compared to 1,174.3 on January 9)
Windsor and Maidenhead - 186.2 (Compared to 727.8 on January 9)

There have now been 3,892,459 cases of Covid-19 across the UK as of Thursday, February 4, at 4pm - a daily increase of 20,634 cases.

In today's national coronavirus news:
More than a third of people who receive their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine report some side effects, new data suggests.

Most of the side effects were mild, and included pain or swelling around the site of the injection.

The data suggests people who have previously had Covid-19 are almost twice as likely to experience one or more mild whole body (systemic) side effects, compared to those who have not had the virus (33per cent vs 19 per cent) from a Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine dose.

According to the latest data from the Zoe Covid Symptom Study app, the most common mild whole body (systemic) side effects were fatigue (nine per cent), headache (eight per cent) and chills or shivers (four per cent).

Most mild whole body (systemic) side effects appeared in the first two days after the vaccination and only three per cent of people have any after effects beyond three days.

The figures, based on a sub-sample of almost 40,000 vaccine doses, suggest that 37 per cent of people experienced some local side effects after the first dose, and 45 per cent after the second.

Covid-19 vaccines work by using a harmless version or component of the coronavirus to train the immune system, so when the virus is encountered the body is able to fight it off.

This response can feel like some of the symptoms when the body is fighting off a real infection, including headaches, fever, chills or shivers, tiredness (fatigue), muscle or joint pains, diarrhoea and feeling sick (nausea).

Experts say a stronger response may indicate evidence of an increased immune response.