More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
Home Canterbury News Article
While there has been an uptick in cases in Kent over the past week, there are still several towns which are virtually Covid-free.
Infection rates are lowest in the Sevenoaks district, with just 20 positive tests recorded in the seven days up to March 21, the latest available figures.
But across the entire county there are areas where weekly cases are in single figures - even in Swale, which once had the highest infection rate in the UK.
Queenborough, on the Isle of Sheppey, is one of 10 towns in Kent where fewer than three cases have been recorded.
When this happens, the Government does not show any data on its interactive map, in order to "protect individuals' identities".
Meanwhile, Hythe, New Romney, Lydd and Hawkinge - which all fall under the same district - are also virtually Covid-free.
The same applies to Deal and neighbouring Sandwich.
Over in the west of the county, Edenbridge, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks town also recorded two or fewer cases over this period.
However, Kent's infection rate as a whole rose from 19.8% to 33.6 per 100,000 people. Medway's fell 3.1% to 34.1.
Back on January 4, Kent's rate was 869.6 and in Medway it was 1,168.2, highlighting how drastically the outlook has changed over the past couple of months.
The recent uptick comes as restrictions are loosened from Monday in the next stage of the Prime Minister's roadmap out of lockdown.
The Government anticipates that cases could rise further as more of our freedoms return.
But crucially, this time ministers and scientists will be looking at whether the roll-out of the vaccine to the most vulnerable people means the NHS will not become overwhelmed.
Latest figures show there are 90 people in Kent's hospitals with Covid, plummeting 93% from 1,341 on January 4.
Meanwhile, deaths have also fallen this month.
Eighty people from Kent and Medway have died after testing positive for Covid in March, compared to 1,454 in January.
Full list of towns with two or fewer Covid cases as of March 21:
nline
