Wokingham’s Covid-19 infection rate has plummeted in recent weeks and it is now lower than it was in early December.

When the second national lockdown was lifted on December 2, Wokingham’s seven-day infection rate stood at 128.6 cases per 100,000.

After a worrying surge in December – that was driven by a new and more infectious strain of the virus – the infection rate peaked at 607.8 cases per 100,000 when the third national lockdown was announced on January 4.

It has been falling since then and it reached 102.9 on February 9, after 176 new cases in a week, according to the latest Public Health England figures.

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Around one in 20 tests (5.1 per cent) conducted in Wokingham are coming back positive. 

Cllr John Halsall, leader of Wokingham Borough Council, said: “I would like to thank everybody for their efforts to get this Covid rate down, but unfortunately the number of deaths will continue to go up for a while.

“We are nowhere near the level we were at in the middle of summer (when the infection rate was below 5 cases per 100,000 in July and August) but please observe the rules and we’ll get there.

“Please also encourage your friends and family to do so as well.”

A chart tracking Wokingham\s Covid-19 infection rate

A chart tracking Wokingham\'s Covid-19 infection rate

More than 7,600 people have tested positive for the virus in Wokingham during the pandemic and 279 of them have died.

According to the figures, 60 of those Covid-related deaths occurred in January.

The council has deployed Covid Marshals to ensure people and businesses have been complying with the lockdown rules.

It has also set up two testing centres that offer regular lateral flow tests to critical workers who live or work in Wokingham.

Around one in three people show no symptoms of Covid-19 and the scheme aims to prevent critical workers from transmitting the virus without realising it.

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The council opened a testing centre at its offices in Shute End in January and then opened a second at Microsoft’s UK headquarters in Thames Valley Park in February.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the government will set out its plan for lifting the lockdown next week and it is aiming to reopen schools in England on March 8.