Health chiefs underline "get tested" message after new Covid-19 cases across Northamptonshire

New Covid-19 cases were confirmed in all seven boroughs and districts of Northamptonshire on the same day for the first time in a month.

Public Health Northamptonshire ramped up testing last week in an effort to track down cases that may have otherwise gone undetected after parts of the county were highlighted as potential coronavirus hotspots.

Yesterday's figures showed 21 new cases across the county in the 24 hours up to 9am on Sunday.

Eleven were from people living in Northampton, which is listed as an "area of concern" by Public Health England. Corby, Wellingborough, East Northants and Daventry all had two positive tests with one each in Kettering and South Northants.

Northamptonshire has now seen 105 new cases in the last week, 65 from Northampton — which equates to around 30 per 100,000 of the population.

All those testing positive will be told to self-isolate for ten days to stop spreading the coronavirus while the government's Test and Trace service seeks out anyone they have been in close contact with recently with advice to also stay at home for two weeks.

Health officials has issued extra guidance for Northampton and Corby residents ten days ago in an effort to ward off the danger of a local lockdown similar to one imposed in Leicester last month.

HERE'S THE ADVICE YOU NEED TO FOLLOW IN AND AROUND NORTHAMPTONLocals should limit mixing between households — particularly indoors — avoid public transport and car sharing and work from home if they can. Sports tournaments involving more than two teams have also been banned.

A Public Health Northamptonshire spokesman said: "Increasing trends in the infection rate means we need to take action now to prevent further spread of the virus.

"We have drilled deeper into the data at postcode level to understand the local reasons for increased levels of infection but the increase does not appear to be related to one specific incident or a single method of transmission.

"Residents of Northampton and Corby are being asked to follow a different set of guidance to that being shared nationally, to protect the local community and reduce transmission rates.

"But we all need to continue to protect ourselves and each other by following the social distancing guidelines, washing hands regularly for 20 seconds, wearing a face covering on public transport and in enclosed spaces."

Testing units are set up in Northampton, Kettering and Corby on Monday and anyone with even mild symptoms — high temperature, continuous new cough, a loss of smell or taste — or believe they may have been in contact with someone who has Covid-19, are being urged to get tested.

Advice on how to access a Covid-19 test can be found HERE.

Covid-19 is known to have claimed 529 victims in Northamptonshire's two main hospitals since March while the Quality Care Commission have identified a further 134 deaths linked to coronavirus in county care homes.