AS THE number of Covid cases continue to rise across England, we have put together five updates to keep you informed about coronavirus.

Although the vaccination drive is on top gear, the Delta variant of coronavirus is still spreading across the country.

It is important to keep up to date of the latest developments regarding the pandemic.

Here are the five majore updates from last week that Andover residents should read.  

68 further coronavirus cases and one more death recorded in Test Valley

The number of coronavirus cases in Test Valley increased by 68 in a day, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 7,377 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Test Valley when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on July 23 (Friday), up from 7,309 on Thursday.

The rate of infection in Test Valley now stands at 5,847 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 8,739.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 35,654 over the period, to 5,637,975.

There was also one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Test Valley.

The dashboard shows 197 people had died in the area by July 23 (Friday) – up from 196 on Thursday.

It means there has been one death in the past week, which is an increase on none the previous week.

Tragic Covid-19 death toll across Hampshire care homes revealed

The tragic coronavirus death toll across Hampshire care homes has been revealed by the nation’s care watchdog in newly published figures.

The Care Quality Commission said it was publishing figures on death notifications it received from named homes for the first time in a bid to be transparent, following earlier requests to share the data.

The organisation said releasing the information earlier in the pandemic could have had a “serious impact on continuity of care” but it is doing so now as risks have changed.

More than 78,500 care home residents died in England between April 10 2020 and March 31 2021, with around 7,000 care homes registering at least one death related to coronavirus.

Deaths have decreased substantially across the country as a whole as the vaccine continues to be rolled out.

In Hampshire, 1,163 care home residents died with Covid-19 during this period.

The highest number of fatalities, 534, were recorded in the three months to March 2021.

Overall, 200 individual care homes in the area reported at least one Covid-19 related death.

Thousands more people told to self-isolate by Test and Trace in Hampshire

Hampshire Hospitals Trust was caring for 31 coronavirus patients in hospital as of Tuesday, figures show.

NHS England data shows the number of people being treated in hospital for Covid-19 by 8am on July 20 was up from 25 on the same day the previous week.

There were six beds occupied by Covid-19 patients four weeks ago in Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Across England there were 3,894 people in hospital with Covid as of July 20, with 544 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

16 sectors where workers will be exempt from Covid-19 self-isolation

The government has released a list of 16 sectors where fully vaccinated workers will be exempt from self-isolation when told to quarantine after coming into close contact of someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

The new process will allow critical workers to carry on with their jobs even if identified as a contact of a coronavirus case.

It is only intended to run until August 16, when a wider relaxation for fully vaccinated contacts is set to take effect.

Where employers believe the self-isolation of certain key employees as contacts would result in serious disruption to critical services, they have been asked to contact the relevant Government department.

The 16 sectors are:

  • Energy
  • Civil nuclear
  • Digital infrastructure
  • Food production and supply
  • Waste
  • Water
  • Veterinary medicines
  • Essential chemicals
  • Essential transport
  • Medicines
  • Medical devices
  • Clinical consumable supplies
  • Emergency services
  • Border control
  • Essential defence
  • Local government

Do I have to self-isolate if pinged by NHS Covid-19 app?

Downing Street has said it is “crucial” that people self-isolate after receiving an alert from the NHS Covid-19 app.

No. 10 moved to clear confusion after business minister Paul Scully said it was a decision for individuals and employers whether they should isolate after a “ping” from the app.

In the first week of July, more than half a million people were told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid-19 app with that number continuing to rise.