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Dozens of neighbourhoods in Kent have reported only a handful of new cases of Covid-19 as infection rates continue to drop in the county and across the UK.
Latest figures show many smaller areas reporting fewer than three cases – shown in white on the government’s map of coronavirus statistics – meaning full data is not shown to protect individuals’ identities because the number is so small.
More than 600,000 people in the county – about a third of the population – have now tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.
The number of people in Kent to test positive for Covid-19 since March 2020 stands at 510,232, while the figure for Medway is 93,133. More than 6,000 people across the county have died.
The number of positive tests continues to fall in the county and rest of the country. In the seven days to September 10, the total number of cases in Kent was 715, a further drop of 4.5% on the previous week’s figure.
Infection rates for the same time period – 45 people per 100,000 of the population for Kent, 42.3 per 100,000 in Medway – are roughly in line with the average figure for England of 43.9.
All of Kent’s district and borough council areas had fewer than 100 new cases in the week.
The neighbourhoods recording fewer than three cases a week in each council area are as follows:
Ashford
Hamstreet and Isle of Oxney
Kennington and Little Burton Farm
Wye, Chilham and Kennington
Canterbury
South Canterbury
St Stephen’s
Wincheap
Dartford
Newtown
Stone and Crossways
Dover
Dover East
Eyethorne and Shepherdswell
Folkestone & Hythe
Folkestone Central
Dymchurch, St Mary’s Bay and Brookland
Lyminge, Densole and Elham
Saltwood, Seabrook and Etchinghill
Gravesham
No areas
Maidstone
Allington
Barming
Bearsted and Downswood
Harrietsham, Hollingbourne and Lenham
Headcorn and Sutton Valence
Marden
Ringlestone and Central Maidstone
Tovil
Yalding and Farleigh
Medway
Hoo Peninsula
Chatham South East
Cliffe
Gillingham North East
Gillingham South East
Luton
Parkwood East
Rainham North East
Rainham North West
Rainham South West
Rochester East
Rochester South East
Rochester West
Wainscott and City Estate
Sevenoaks
Edenbridge
Hever, Leigh and Penshurst
Sevenoaks Town and Weald
Sevenoaks West and Chevening
Swanley South and Crockenhill
West Kingsdown
Swale
Faversham East
Minster North
Queenborough
Sheerness East
Sheerness West
Sittingbourne Central and Milton Regis
Sittingbourne East
Sittingbourne South, Bapchild and Bredgar
Thanet
Broadstairs North
Broadstairs South
Cliftonville East and Kingsgate
Margate Town
Minster and St-Nicholas-at-Wade
Ramsgate Harbour
Westbrook and Garlinge
Tonbridge & Malling
East Malling, West Malling and Trottiscliffe
Hildenborough
Kings Hill and Wateringbury
Tonbridge Higham Wood
Tonbridge South and Haysden
Tonbridge Trench Wood
Tunbridge Wells
Frant and Groombridge
High Brooms and Sherwood
Southborough East and Longfield Road
Southborough West
Tunbridge Wells South
The figures come as people aged 65 and over can now book their Covid-19 autumn booster jab.
Appointments are also open for carers and pregnant women.
People aged 75 and over, the severely immunosuppressed and frontline health and care workers have been able to book a booster since last week.
Bookings can be done online or over the phone, as long as the person had their last Covid jab at least three months ago.
An autumn booster will eventually be offered to everyone aged 50 and over.
Last week, the World Health Organisation said the end of the Covid-19 pandemic was “in sight” but warned people to remain cautious.
The WHO said weekly deaths from the virus around the world are at the lowest level since March 2020, the month the UK first went into lockdown.
The director general of the international health body, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a press conference: “We have never been in a better position to end the pandemic – we are not there yet, but the end is in sight.
“We can see the finish line, we’re in a winning position. But now is the worst time to stop running.”
The WHO warned that the virus still poses an “acute global emergency” and highlighted that during the first eight months of 2022 more than a million people died from Covid-19.
At the end of August the Covid-19 alert level in the UK was downgraded from level three to level two. A level two alert means Covid-19 is “in general circulation but direct Covid-19 healthcare pressures and transmission are declining or stable”.
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