THE number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Thurrock has risen by six, bringing the total in the borough to 275.
This follows yesterday (29 April) when for the first time in several weeks, there were no confirmed cases of coronavirus in the borough in 24 hours.
At Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals Trust, which has been severely hit by the coronavirus, the number of coronavirus-related deaths has risen by four to 235.
Exact recovery figures are yet to be made official by the government.
Please let me make it clear that even one death is of course a tragic loss and my condolences go out to anyone who has lost a loved one and thoughts are with anyone who has been affected by the coronavirus.
It is important for us at YT to look at the statistics to try and paint an overall picture.
Between the April 9th – 15, six out of seven daily rises in coronavirus-related patient deaths were in double figures – 11, 11, 8, 14, 11, 10, 10 – with April 12th being the worst – with 14 deaths.
Following April 15th, there have not been any daily rises in deaths in double figures.
Following April 15th, there have only been three instances where the daily rise has been above six.
While it important to not get carried away when looking at daily statistics and jump to conclusions, it is clear that at this stage, the number of coronavirus-related deaths at the trust is lowering at least when compared to earlier in the month – from April 9th until April 15th.
Crucially, from yesterday (29 April, the government have started to include coronavirus-related deaths at care homes in the daily statistics.
Nationally there has been a significant leap in the number of recorded cases of coronavirus, an increase in 24 hours of 6,032 to 171,253.
Due to deaths in care homes now being recorded by Public Health England, the number of deaths in the UK has risen to 26,771 – an 674.
As reported by the BBC yesterday (29 April), these updated daily figures do not yet provide a comprehensive picture of what has happened so far because of the lack of testing in the community in the early days.
Therefore, it means the figures are an underestimate of what has been happening.
As more testing is rolled out, the daily figures from now on will provide a more accurate picture of what is happening than has been the case previously.
YourThurrock’s thoughts are with all of those affected by the coronavirus.
