EIGHTY-EIGHT positive cases of coronavirus were recorded in Test Valley yesterday, December 28.

Between December 22 and December 28, 344 people tested positive for Covid-19, which is 191 cases more than the seven days previous which is 124.8 per cent increase.

Four people have died within 28 days of a positive Covid-19 test in the last seven days in the Test Valley area.

The council area has a rolling rate of 219.6 cases per 100,000 people which is slightly below the UK average.

On the Governments interactive map Andover Central appears as the hotspot for Test Valley with an above average rolling rate of 487.0.

The rise in cases comes as England’s hospitals deal with more Covid-19 patients than during the April peak of the first wave.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has warned that doctors and nurses are “back in the eye of the storm”.

Figures from NHS England show there were 20,426 patients in NHS hospitals in England as of 8am on Monday, compared with 18,974 patients recorded on April 12.

The number of further lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus recorded in a single day in the UK also hit a new high of 41,385 as of 9am Monday, rising above 40,000 for the first time.

According to Government figures the current UK death toll now stands at 71,109.