Thatcham North East – 3
Streatley and Pangbourne – 3 Newbury Wash Common, Thatcham West, Chieveley, East Ilsley and Compton Lambourn and Great Shefford, Kintbury and Boxford and Purley on Thames each recorded fewer than three cases. Public Health England states: “For smaller areas with fewer than three cases, we do not show data. This is to protect individuals’ identities.” West Berkshire’s seven-day infection rate peaked at 422.2 cases per 100,000 people on January 4. But it has been falling steadily since then and now stands at 71.3 cases per 100,000 people. More than 6,000 people have tested positive for the virus in West Berkshire so far and 224 have died.
Testing sites LOCAL community Covid-19 testing is now underway in West Berkshire. Burghfield Community Sports Association and Hungerford Rugby Club will open today (February 22) as community (lateral flow) Covid-19 testing sites, helping to protect those most at risk and to drive down transmission rates. Tests will be conducted using rapid turnaround tests supplied by NHS Test and Trace. These two new sites join the existing sites at Highwood Copse Primary School, Newbury and Thatcham Rugby Club as part of the community testing initiative run by West Berkshire Council in partnership with the Department of Health and Social Care. Around one in three people who are infected with Covid-19 have no symptoms and could be spreading the disease without knowing it. Broadening testing to identify people showing no symptoms will mean that positive cases can be found more quickly, helping to break the chain of transmission.