The number of Covid-related deaths within 28 days of a positive virus test for Thanet has risen by 9 today (November 17), making a total of 13 in the last seven days. According to the government data dashboard this is a rise of 12 – or 1200%- on the previous seven days.
The total number of deaths for Thanet of people who had tested Covid positive within the previous 28 days now stands at 133.
Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate but may not be the primary cause of death.
There have been 60 Covid positive tests recorded for today and a total of 735 in the last seven days – a rise of 283 on the seven days prior. Total positive cases for Thanet now stands at 2715.
The government dashboard says the seven day rolling rate to November 12 is 481.3 per 100,000, Kent County Council’s published data says the weekly cases per 100,000 people up to November 13 is 516.5 for Thanet. The England average is 270.3.
Thanet currently has the second highest rate in Kent, behind Swale at 584.3
Across the UK 598 deaths and 20,051 positive tests were reported today. Deaths are allocated to the deceased’s usual area of residence. Where available, postcode of residence for deaths is obtained from the information collected at the time of testing
Figures are updated daily, although there is time lag on some statistics. They can be found on the government dashboard here and here and the KCC page here
Find an interactive map for neighbourhood data at https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map
Test centres
Thanet has two Covid testing walk/drive in centres at Manston and Margate.
Testing statistics for NHS laboratories (pillar 1) and commercial partners (pillar 2) are recorded by Kent Public Health. The data below is recorded up to November 12.
Kent Public Health data says the sensitivity of RT-PCR testing methodology is reportedly poor and has been estimated to give false-negative rates between 2% and 29% of the time.
Tier levels
At a public briefing this week it was suggested tier level restrictions may be ‘strengthened’ when England comes out of national lockdown on December 2.
Chief Medical Advisor to NHS Test and Trace Dr Susan Hopkins said Tier 1, which Thanet was in before the national restrictions came into force on November 5, “had very little effect.”
The health expert said Tier 3 and Tier 3 plus, which had the most severe restrictions, had resulted in a reducing of cases in the North West, whilst Tier 2 had seen a ‘hold’ in cases in some areas. But Tier 1 had not been effective.
Dr Hopkins said: “When we are looking at tiers in future we will need to think about strengthening them in order to get us through the winter months until a vaccine is available to everyone.”
