The number of new Covid cases in Harborough plunges by over a quarter

Harborough district has dropped out of the top 20 worst areas for coronavirus cases

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 in Harborough has plunged by over a quarter over the last week, it’s emerged today.

Mike Sandys, the Director of Public Health for Leicestershire, said the district’s infection rate has fallen from 664.7 to 490.9 per 100,000 people.

That’s still above the national average.

Some 479 people have tested positive for the virus in the last seven days.

That’s a fall of 121 on the previous week as the figure went sky high driven by a dramatic spike among schoolchildren.

Mike said the rate of Covid-19 cases has now dropped among both 11-16-year-olds and right across the board in Harborough.

The county’s public health supremo told the Harborough Mail last Friday (October 1) that the area saw about 600 new infections from Sunday September 19 to Saturday September 25.

“Some 62 per cent of all new cases in Harborough are among children and young people aged under 20 – most notably 11-16-year-olds.

“Youngsters are clearly being infected mainly at school and spreading it among themselves.

“And the second group that’s been worst hit are their parents – people aged from 30-50, largely the 35-45-year-olds,” said Mike.

“About three quarters of all cases in Harborough are among our school age population or their parents as it spreads amongst them.

“There are very few cases, for example, affecting people aged over 60 or those aged in their 20s.

“And again we are ahead of the rest of the country when it comes to this new spike because our students returned to school at least a week earlier than anywhere else,” stressed Mike.