More on KentOnline
More on KentOnline
As Kent's weekly Covid-19 cases drop to tier one levels, plans to open the country up are starting to come together.
In the week ending February 10, Kent and Medway saw 1,779 new cases - dropping from 3,208 the previous week - bringing the infection rate down to 95.64 per 100,000 people.
The last time case numbers were this low was during tier one, in week ending October 27, when there were 1,783 new cases.
This is also a huge drop from the second wave's peak in week ending January 4, which saw 17,003 new weekly cases.
The number of weekly deaths is also following the same pattern, dropping from 176 to 93 in the last week.
The death toll remains much higher than tier one levels, however, as 11 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 in the week of October 27.
In Kent and Medway, 4,435 people have died with Covid in total during the pandemic, out of 117,396 throughout the UK.
Last week, Andrew Scott-Clark, director of public health in Kent, said Kent County Council wanted to see infection rates fall below 25 per 100,000 people before safely opening the county again.
Though the overall rate isn't quite there yet, some districts are almost there.
Canterbury has the lowest infection rate this week at 55 - a 50.8% drop bringing cases down to 91.
Tonbridge and Malling follows close behind with an infection rate of 56 with just 74 cases. The borough also has the most significant drop in the past week of 57.2%.
Maidstone currently has the highest infection rate at 132.1 with 227 cases seeing a 31.4% drop in the past week.
The only area with a less significant drop is Ashford, which saw 27.7% fewer cases in the last week bringing the rate down to 118.4 with 154 cases.
With the rate cases are dropping, the first move to loosen lockdown could come on March 8 when the government might change rules regarding socialising outdoors.
Before the end of March, if cases remain low, outdoor leisure activities could be permitted but social distancing rules will remain for the foreseeable future.
The vaccine programme is also pushing forward in Kent as 65 to 69 years-olds and those with underlying health conditions are now invited to book their jabs.
This includes the fifth and sixth cohort of the nine groups categorised as the most vulnerable who are getting the vaccine first.
As of February 14, there were 15,300,151 people across the UK who have had their first dose of the vaccine and 539,630 who have had their second.
