The county's public health director has warned against complacency as Covid-19 deaths and new cases in Kent fall to their lowest levels since lockdown.

Figures this week showed the number of people dying with the virus has dropped into single figures for the first time since March.

At the same time, positive tests recorded across the county have fallen by 76% in the last month,

But Kent County Council's Director of Public Health, Andrew Scott-Clark, says "now is not the time to relax".

He said: “It has been an incredibly difficult and challenging five months for all the agencies working tirelessly together across Kent and Medway , and we are pleased that the weekly figures are declining for both the number of confirmed cases and deaths.

"This is something we continue to monitor extremely carefully and are ready to take action in the event of significant outbreaks.

"However, now is not the time to relax or be complacent as Covid-19 is still out there and the battle is far from over if we wish to avoid a second wave and the potential for local containment measures."

The latest figures show that there were seven Covid-19 deaths across the county in the first week of August - down from 17 the previous week.

At the height of the pandemic there were 242 deaths in a single week in April.

Among the places to record zero deaths for the first time is Ashford , which has seen one of the worst infection rates in England.

But new cases in the town - and Kent as a whole - continue to fall.

In the week up to August 17, there were 43 positive tests across the county - down from 178 in the week up to July 20.

But Kent MP Sir Roger Gale, who represents North Thanet , has echoed the fears about complacency.

"It's obviously very good news and very welcome indeed that it is falling," he said.

"But my concern is that we start taking chances and lower our guard, because the last thing anyone wants is an awful spike.

"While this is good news, if we continue to be responsible and sensible, we may be able to keep a lid on it. If we are not, we could face the flare up again.

"We've seen the effects of clustering nationally and locally and there have been incidents abroad where suddenly there's been an outbreak because a group of people have got together - and we have to be on guard against that.

"I don't want to be a killjoy because I'm as aware as anybody of the effect on business this has had.

"If we're sensible and play by the rules, then there's a chance we may avoid it."

The wearing of masks in shops remains mandatory, while the Government continues to urge the public to follow social distancing rules, as well as a number of other restrictions.

Sir Roger said: "I think the balance of the lockdown rules is about right. We have to be ready to shut down locally where there is a sudden surge.

"We can't just take all the brakes off, because it's still necessary to socially distance in pubs, on public transport and in theatres. If we don't do that, the danger is we'll throw away all the gains that we've made.

"If wearing a mask instils public confidence and does prevent some spread of the disease, then that's worth doing."

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