This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Latest COVID case numbers
19/08/2021
Warning that we are not back to those pre-pandemic days and so caution is still required
As we get used to living our lives in the new normal, local COVID infection rates remain fairly high – at similar levels to during wave 2 of the pandemic in January.
Last week 334 people tested positive for the virus in the Banbury FM area – that’s up from 260 the previous week and 214 before that.
Up to last Friday there were 290.4 cases per 100,000 of the population in the Cherwell District, which is the highest level across all of the districts in the county.
For a number of weeks earlier in the summer Oxford city recorded the highest infection rate in the county. This week they have been thanked for the way they rallied to drive down COVID cases.
Ansaf Azhar, Oxfordshire County Council’s Director for Public Health, said: “Alongside vaccinations we know that people’s behaviour is the key determinant in stopping the spread of COVID-19. Undoubtedly, the way people in Oxford stepped forward to get tested over the summer helped to drive down our very high case rates. I thank you all for this incredible effort
“Now that national restrictions have been lifted, people are enjoying more freedoms than they have had since early 2020. It has been great to hear and see that people are able to safely socialise and embrace a new normal. But at the same time we are not back to those pre-pandemic days and so caution is still required. The number of COVID cases being reported in the county remains quite high, with more than 1700 reported in the past week and we will remain reliant on people making sensible choices to keep the virus at bay in the coming weeks and months.
“We remain grateful for the small acts of care being taken on a daily basis such as wearing face coverings, washing hands, maintaining a distance between people, ventilating rooms and meeting outdoors where possible.
“Cases both locally and nationally remain highest in the 18 – 30 age group and I would once again urge those who have not booked their first jab to come forward. The vaccine is effective at reducing the risk of transmission and severe illness and − as we look towards autumn and people returning to work, school and university after the holidays − it represents our best chance of stopping the spread of the virus.”
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam