Coronavirus cases in and around Borehamwood are beginning to fall steadily but infection rates in the area still remain some of the highest in Hertfordshire.

Several hundred Borehamwood residents, at the very least, tested positive for Covid in late December and early January in a sign the new variant of the disease was spreading across the town.

The infection rate was over 1,000 cases per 100,000 in every part of the town at one point with Cowley Hill and Hillside wards recording particularly high levels.

It has taken Borehamwood a little longer than other parts of Hertsmere, like Bushey, to see cases drop off but the latest weekly government figures now indicate that Tier 4 and lockdown has helped bring cases down.

There were 295 cases in Borehamwood in the seven days to January 12, down from 393 in the seven days before that, and some way of the 1,017 cases recorded across Borehamwood, Elstree, and Radlett between December 17 and 30.

Although cases have dropped, the infection rates remains over 1,000 in Cowley Hill ward, and over 700 in the rest of the town, meaning more work is still required to suppress the virus in Borehamwood.

The table below shows the latest number of weekly cases in every part of Hertsmere.

Meanwhile, Hertfordshire recorded its lowest new daily total of Covid cases for more than a month on the government dashboard yesterday, with 639 cases reported.

Hertsmere’s latest weekly infection rate has dropped to 684.2 cases per 100,000, which is still high, but around a week ago, that rate sat above 1,000 cases per 100,000.

The decline in cases actually coincides with an increase in testing facilities in Borehamwood after a walk-through Covid testing centre opened recently at the Hertsmere Civic Centre car park in Borehamwood, to support the drive-thru facility already in place.

Cases have also come down as the number of lateral tests carried out in Hertsmere has gone up, while another sign the virus is shrinking is the positivity testing rate has dropped from more than 20 per cent over New Year to just over 16 per cent in the seven days to January 12.

Inevitably, after such a signficant number of Covid cases recorded over Christmas and New Year, both West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and the Royal Free Foundation NHS Trust, which run Watford General and Barnet hospitals respectively, are looking after record numbers of Covid patients.

Dashboard figures reveal there were 347 Covid hospital patients in west Hertfordshire on January 12, with 503 at the Royal Free, which also serves hospitals in Hampstead and in Enfield.

Both Watford and Barnet hospital are under severe pressure, with admissions likely to rise as there is around a two-week lag for Covid patients to become ill enough to be taken to hospital - and case rates were still extremely high in early January.

The government dashboard shows 33 people living in Hertsmere died in any setting in January, within 28 days of receiving a positive Covid test result. There have been 213 Covid=related deaths in total in Hertsmere since the pandemic began.

Meanwhile, vaccinations are being administered to the borough’s most vulnerable population at Allum Manor by GP’s in Hertsmere.

A mass vaccination centre has also opened in Stevenage.

The NHS says the centre is capable of jabbing thousands of people a week there and people living within a 45 minute drive of Stevenage, and on the priority list, have received an invitation for a Covid jab from the NHS.