POSITIVE Covid-19 case figures in Berkshire have now surpassed 18,000, according to the latest data.

Public Health England has recorded 394 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 16, bring the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 18,246, according to Public Health England.

This is an increase of almost 2,000 cases in just six days.

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The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

  • Reading - 70 cases, 3,476 total
  • West Berkshire - 86 cases, 2,145 total
  • Bracknell - 56 cases, 2,011 total
  • Wokingham - 50 cases, 2,800 total
  • Slough - 93 cases, 4,959 total
  • Windsor & Maidenhead - 39 cases, 2,855 total

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

  • Reading - 221.9 per 100,000 people (compared to 164.4 six days ago)
  • West Berkshire - 158.4 per 100,000 people (compared to 58.7 six days ago)
  • Bracknell - 222 per 100,000 people (compared to 159.1 six days ago)
  • Wokingham - 185.8 per 100,000 people (compared to 142 six days ago)
  • Slough - 353.1 per 100,000 people (compared to 242.7 six days ago)
  • Windsor & Maidenhead - 140 per 100,000 people (compared to 97.1 six days ago)

There have now been 1,913,277 cases of Covid-19 across the UK – as of Thursday, December 10 at 4pm. This was an increase of 25,161 cases in the past 24 hours.

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In today's national coronavirus news:

A further 369 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 45,126, NHS England said on Wednesday.

Patients were aged between 40 and 100. All except 13, aged between 61 and 93, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between August 4 and December 15.

The Prime Minister addressed the nation in the Downing Street press conference on Wednesday afternoon.

“We’ve decided that the overall situation is alas worse,” he said.

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“More challenging than we hoped when we first set the rules.

“While it would not be right to criminalise people who made plans and simply want to spend time with their loved ones, we’re collectively, across the UK, governments at every level, asking you to think hard and in detail about the days ahead.

“We’re keeping the laws the same but we all want to send the same message: a smaller Christmas is going to be a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.

“When we say three households can meet on five days I want to stress these are maximums and not targets to aim for.

“It’s always going to be safest to minimise the number of people you meet. That means if you are visiting others over Christmas we’re asking you in the five days beforehand, as early as this Friday, to reduce the number of people you are in contact with to the lowest possible.

“If possible don’t travel from a high prevalence to a lower prevalence area and avoid staying away from home overnight if you can.”