“I KNOW that this will be frustrating for many of our residents and we understand that frustration.”

That was the message from Bracknell Forest Council leader Paul Bettison after it was announced the borough would be moving to tier 2 restrictions less than one month ago.

The hope back at the end of November (the 26th), as Bracknell MP James Sunderland outlined, was that Bracknell Forest would come out of the second national lockdown in tier one.

Then, the borough had an infection rate of 87.3 per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

In fact, just two days before the borough did exit the national shutdown, its rate decreased to just 69.4 — the 19th-lowest in England.

On the first day of the month, 1,458 covid-19 cases had been recorded across Bracknell Forest since the start of the pandemic.

But when the lockdown was lifted, outbreaks started to occur across the borough.

On Friday, December 4, students and teachers at Garth Hill College were told to self-isolate after a number of people tested positive for covid-19 at the school.

By Sunday, December 6, Bracknell Forest’s transmission rate had risen to 103.6 positive cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.

Things didn’t get better from there. The council said a dozen schools had reported coronavirus outbreaks by Monday, December 7.

Another three schools reported outbreaks by the following day.

By Thursday, December 10, Bracknell Forest’s transmission rate had gone up to 159.1, giving the borough the third-highest rate in Berkshire where it previously had the lowest.

As of this date, the borough had recorded 1,732 coronavirus cases across the whole pandemic.

Brakenhale School closed on Friday, December 11 after a confirmed case of the virus.

The News spoke to Bracknell Forest Council leader Paul Bettison about the surge in coronavirus cases and he said the spike was largely being ‘driven’ by young people.

He also commented on the possibility of the borough entering tier 3 restrictions after an article from the Metro indicated the borough would be heading for the toughest measures.

The councillor said the borough’s speed of travel was “incredible” but “in the wrong way”, telling the News about his concerns regarding Bracknell Forest’s surge.

By Sunday, December 13, Bracknell Forest’s seven-day infection rate had increased again to 199.9 per 100,000 people, taking it to second-highest in Berkshire, only behind Slough.

The following day, Meadow Vale Primary School closed after a positive covid-19 test at the school.

Fast forward a day and a new variant of coronavirus was identified in England.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said more than 1,000 cases of the variant had been found by December 15 “predominantly in the South East of England”, explaining why the spread of the disease had been faster in this region in recent days and weeks.

On the same day, Bracknell Forest councillors called for more enforcement of tier measures and urged residents to ‘follow the damn rules’.

At a local outbreak board meeting, one councillor lamented the council’s lack of communication with the popular Facebook group We Love Bracknell over recent weeks.

By December 16, Boris Johnson had announced that the easing of restrictions over a five-day Christmas period would not be reversed despite the latest news about the covid variant.

As of this date, Bracknell Forest’s seven-day infection rate had risen to 222 per 100,000 people.

The borough had recorded 2,011 positive coronavirus cases by December 16 across the whole pandemic.

December 17 saw new tiers announced for the country. In one fell swoop, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced the whole of Berkshire, London and a number of other counties in the south-east would enter tier 3 restrictions from Saturday, December 19.

This placed tougher measures on hospitality venues, which would only be allowed to make sales through takeaway or delivery services.

One local restaurant owner described the move as a “smack in the face.”

According to the government, Berkshire moved to tier 3 as “since the end of national restrictions, the outbreak across Berkshire has deteriorated.”

But after less than a full day in tier 3, things were about to get worse for the borough and the county.

At a press conference on Saturday, December 19, Boris Johnson announced a new tier 4 exclusively for London and regions in the south-east.

These measures, even tougher than those in tier 3, were applied to Bracknell Forest in a bid to get people to ‘stay home’.

Christmas relaxation of tier restrictions was scrapped for the tier 4 areas affected and all but essential shops were told to close.

The Prime Minister said tier 4 had been introduced following the identification of the new coronavirus variant which spread more rapidly than the original disease.

READ MORE: What is tier 4, which areas are in it, and what are the rules?

The tier 4 rules came into force on Sunday, December 20.

As of today (Monday, December 21), Bracknell Forest has a seven-day transmission rate of 359.9 — up from 71.8 on December 1.

Latest figures show that so far, 2,402 positive cases have been recorded across the borough since the start of the pandemic.

This is up almost 1,000 (944, to be exact) since December 1.