Wellingborough overtakes Corby as county's Covid hotspot

Volunteer Sarah Seymour with a pack of ten lateral flow tests on the Beanfield testing blitz.

Corby no longer has Northamptonshire's highest seven-day rate of Covid-19 cases after months as the county's hotspot.

In figures released this evening (Friday) the steel town dropped to a weekly rate of 65 cases per 100,000 people after just three positive cases were added today.

It now has England's 14th highest rate - still more than double the national average - but has now been overtaken by Wellingborough in 11th.

Wellingborough's rate is now 68 cases per 100,000 people after 10 cases were added today.

It's been a steady decline for Corby recently after cases rose rapidly at the start of 2021, with 141 cases recorded in a single day in early January as the town recorded the country's biggest case rate jump.

Days later the rate was one of the highest in England, with the county's first rapid lateral flow test centre opening in January to try and pick up undetected asymptomatic cases.

By February the town's rate was the second highest in England before it later moved to number one, a position it held for several weeks.

Corby MP Tom Pursglove later called for mass testing for the whole town.

At the start of April, with case rates remaining consistently high, leading town figures called on residents to draw on the spirit of Corby to reduce their Covid rates.

A testing taskforce was then sent to Corby's Beanfield estate, a ward with low testing rates but high case rates, to go door-to-door offering a total of 9,000 tests.

The number of positive cases this picked up has not yet been revealed.

Lucy Wightman, joint director of Public Health at North and West Northamptonshire Councils, said: “I am very encouraged by the good progress and this week’s decrease in numbers, but we still face a big challenge ahead and must keep going.

"We have to continue to work together more than ever to reduce numbers of cases so that we are in line or better still lower than the national average.

“Although restrictions are easing, it is imperative that we continue to abide by the guidelines and follow the rules."

She added: "We all must socially distance, wear our face coverings and wash or sanitise our hands to protect these businesses, their staff and their jobs.

"We have a duty to keep them safe as well as ourselves and other customers around us.”

Kettering's rate of 44 cases per 100,000 people is ranked 30 in the list of England's highest rates.