Number of county coronavirus cases rises for first time in six weeks

There have also been 10 coronavirus deaths and a rise in the number of people in hospital with Covid, latest NHS data reveal.

Public Health England (PHE) figures show there were 2,456 cases in the county in the week up to March 5 - a rise of 15.2 per cent on the previous week.

Worcester saw a rise of 19 per cent in the seven days to March 5, with 508 cases recorded.

Malvern Hills saw a rise of 17.1 per cent with 390 cases.

Wychavon, which includes Evesham and Droitwich, was up 17.5 per cent to 632 cases.

Redditch saw a rise of 22 per cent to 311 cases.

Bromsgrove saw the largest rise, up 28.6 per cent to 346 cases.

Wyre Forest, which includes Kidderminster, was the only one of the six regions to see a fall, down 13.2 per cent to 269 cases.

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NHS data shows there were 10 deaths recorded for Worcestershire hospitals in the week up to March 11.

All 10 deaths came at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust sites - Worcestershire Royal Hospital, the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch and Kidderminster Hospital - with the trust's total moving to 976.

Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust total has stayed at 68.

The 10 announced deaths this week means in total there have been 1,044 Covid-related deaths in county hospitals since the pandemic began.

The NHS data also shows that there were 95 people in county hospitals with Covid-19 on March 10. This is up from the same day last week, when 91 people were recorded to be in hospital with coronavirus.

NHS England said one person is in intensive care with Covid on March 10, the same as a week ago.

The latest vaccination figures, up to March 9, show 87.4 per cent of Worcestershire adults have had a first dose of a Covid vaccine, 83.3 per cent have had a second, while 69.2 per cent have had a booster.