ALL FOUR NATIONS OF THE UK HAVE SEEN THEIR PEAK IN DEATHS 'COME AND GO'

ATHERSTONE and North Warwickshire had another two new cases of Covid-19 out of 42 additionally reported across neighbouring local authorities in the last 24 hours as new figures suggest the reproductive rate of the virus is creeping up.

The official total of 170 lab-confirmed cases comes as experts fear that the coronavirus 'R' number has gone up from between 0.5 and 0.9 to 0.7 and 1 in some parts of the country.

The Midlands 'R' rate stands at 0.68 compared with North East and Yorkshire is around 0.8, the South West is 0.76, slightly more than the North West which has a rate of 0.73.

For the Midlands it means for every 10 people who are infected, they are likely to pass it onto to just under seven people.

The coronavirus 'R' infection rate may have risen over the last week, Government advisors tonight warned.

But the Government remains confident that the reproductive rate of Covid-19 is still under one, Health Secretary Matt Hancock assured a press briefing this evening.

The rise in the figure is thought to be driven by the virus spreading in care homes[.L] and hospitals rather than the wider community.

There is a time lag in the calculations, with the latest R value relating to what was happening two to three weeks ago.

Mr Hancock said the R number was an "incredibly important figure", and it was important to note "we don't think that it is above one".

He added: "Everybody can play their part in keeping R below one and pushing R down.

"You can do that by following the social distancing rules, so if you do go outdoors, do it only with members of your household and keep two metres away from others who aren't in your household."

Mr Hancock also used the briefing to address the crisis in care homes.

He said every resident and staff member will have been tested by early June – despite him saying on April 28 this testing was available.

He also announced a named clinical lead for every care home in England, adding: "This is the most intense support and scrutiny that care homes have ever received."

New figures show that [L[https://atherstone.nub.news/n/coronavirus-in-care-homes-atherstone-shining-a-light-as-12000-deaths-reported-in-the-uk [[L+]more than 12,500 people living in care homes[.L] have now died with Covid-19, with the majority dying in their care home.

Meanwhile, newly-released figures put the cases of people testing positive in the district at a rate of more than 260 per 100,00 population.

The statistics are revealed in additional information on 'lower tier' local authorities provided by the Government via the Office for National Statistics more than 100 days since the first case of coronavirus was reported in the UK.

The borough sits fourth out of nine in terms of cases per 100,000 among the neighbouring local council areas bordering Atherstone.

North Warwickshire's case rate of 262.1 per 100,000 population is higher than the Warwickshire figure of 237.1 and England (252.6) while a shade under the West Midlands at 263. The UK figure of 349 per 100,000 population is bumped up by a Welsh rate of 381.

Solihull tops the cases per 100,000 table for authorities around Atherstone's North Warwickshire borough at nearly 300. It has recorded a total of 643 Covid cases.

Close neighbours Nuneaton and Bedworth have reported 379 cases at the second highest rate of 294 per 100,000 population.

With the inclusion of population, recorded cases and rate per 100,000 population, the full table of authorities which have a boundary touching North Warwickshire reads:

Solihull (population 214,909): Cases 643, at rate of 299.2 cases per 100,000;

Nuneaton & Bedworth (pop 128,902): Cases 379 at rate of 294 cases per 100,000;

Birmingham (pop 1.08 million): Cases 3,232, at rate of 283.2 cases per 100,000;

North Warwickshire (pop 64,850): Cases 170, at rate of 262.1 cases per 100,000;

Lichfield (pop 103,965:) Cases: 267, at rate of 256.8 cases per 100,000;

Coventry (pop 325,949): Cases 775, at rate of 211.3 cases per 100,000;

Tamworth (pop 76,678 ): Cases 162, at rate of 211.3 cases per 100,000;

Hinckley & Bosworth (pop 112,423): Cases 227, at rate of 201.9 cases per 100,000; and

North West Leicestershire (pop 102,126): Cases 138, at rate of 135.1 cases per 100,000.

Eight people in Atherstone have lost their lives to the virus, putting the town at a current rate of 75 deaths per 100,000, according to the Office for National Statistics, with only Birmingham above on 78.

The figures are relevant for coronavirus deaths between March 1 and April 17.

North Warwickshire, which finds itself surrounded by no fewer than eight other adjoining Midland authorities, has recorded 24 deaths in that timescale – with an ONS mortality rate of 35 per 100,000. Warwickshire's confirmed cases now stand at 1,354 (up seven), Staffordshire is on 2,041 (a rise of 19) with Leicestershire on 1,119 (increase of 20). Midland cases total 23,658 (up 220), the North West 23,302, while London is on 26,193. The UK death toll increased by 384 to 33,998 – the highest in Europe by more than 2,000 with Italy's tally on 31,610 fatalities. But the real figure involving Covid-19 in the UK passed 41,000, according to the latest available data. UK now sits fourth in the world table of recorded cases, with Russia third on 262,843 but only recording 2,418 deaths. Russia fast catching second-placed Spain – which has 274,367 cases with total deaths on 27,459. The US in the top position for cases and deaths with 87,773 fatalities from 1.47 million people testing positive. The death tally across the globe has passed the 300,000 milestone – 306,377. Some 1.78 million have recovered worldwide out of 4.6 million recorded cases. Meanwhile, the latest data from the UK's statistical agencies suggests there has now been a peak in deaths involving Covid-19 in each of the four nations of the country – though the trend since that point has not been consistent. In all cases the data is based on death registrations, where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, whether as the underlying cause or not. In England, it has been clear for a few weeks that there was a peak in deaths on April 8. This was evident first in figures from NHS England for hospital deaths but has now been confirmed in data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which is based on registered deaths involving Covid-19 in all locations. This show a peak of 1,253 deaths on April 8, followed by a reasonably consistent trend downwards. The latest numbers – based on deaths registered up to May 9 – go as far as May 1, when 513 deaths occurred. All these numbers are provisional. This is because it takes time for deaths to be officially registered, and there may have been deaths involving Covid-19 that took place up to May 1 but which have yet to be fully recorded. The next update from the ONS will be on May 19. In Wales, the ONS data shows a peak on April 8 as in England, though the 72 deaths that took place on that date were only just higher than the 71 deaths that occurred four days later on April 12. Since that point, the overall direction has been downwards – but the trend has been inconsistent. For example, the daily total fell from 36 deaths on April 26 to 34 on April 27 and 30 on April 28 – but then up to 32 on April 29 and to 39 on April 30, before falling back to 26 on May 1. Like Wales, Scotland has seen an inconsistent decline in the daily death totals, though the direction is also downwards. According to data from the National Records of Scotland, there was a peak on April 9 of 108 deaths, which was also when the daily total went above 100 for the first time. It dropped to 98 on April 10, but went back above 100 on two successive occasions (101 on April 16 and 105 on April 20). Since then, the number has tracked broadly downwards with occasional spikes. The latest data, which is for deaths that took place up to May 3 and which were registered up to May 10, shows the daily total has not been above 70 since April 27. Northern Ireland has the lowest number of deaths of the four nations, and this is reflected in its daily figures. Data from the Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency, for deaths involving Covid-19 occurring up to May 8 and registered by May 13, shows that the total number of deaths taking place on a single day has never been higher than 25. But the daily total has been below 10 on the four most recent dates for which information is available (May 5-8). In other developments, ministers have came under fresh pressure to ramp up recruitment for the Government's track-and-trace programme as it emerged that only 1,500 contact tracers out of a promised 18,000 had been appointed by the start of the week. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said while "about 15,000" applications have been received, just 1,500 people had been hired for the programme – which is seen as key to allowing the UK to lift the most stringent coronavirus lockdown measures. Downing Street later said it was still "on course" to have 18,000 contact tracers next week, and insisted "significantly more" than the 1,500 had been recruited. However, the Prime Minister's official spokesman was unable to say how many. Labour said the process was "rapidly descending into a shambles", and questioned the reported hiring of private firm Serco to put in place the manual contact-tracing team.