MORE than 44,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Berkshire.

In the past 24 hours, Public Health England has recorded 415 lab-confirmed cases in areas including Reading, Bracknell, Wokingham, West Berkshire, Slough and Windsor and Maidenhead.

These figures, correct as of Thursday, January 21 at 4pm, bring the county's lab-confirmed positive Covid-19 tests total to 44,728, according to Public Health England.

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The local breakdown for the past 24 hours as follows:

  • Reading - 71 cases, 8,547 total
  • West Berkshire - 48 cases, 4,899 total
  • Bracknell - 42 cases, 5,731 total
  • Wokingham - 48 cases, 6,732 total
  • Slough - 141 cases, 11,918 total
  • Windsor and Maidenhead - 65 cases, 6,901 total

There have now been 3,543,646 people across the UK who have tested positive for Covid-19. This is an increase of 37,892 in the past 24 hours.

The latest seven-day rate per 100,000 people locally are as follows:

  • Reading - 679.2
  • West Berkshire - 295.4
  • Bracknell - 394.9
  • Wokingham - 354.7
  • Slough - 1,019.1
  • Windsor and Maidenhead - 395.6

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In today's national coronavirus news:

Case rates in England are falling among all age groups, Public Health England said.

The highest rate continues to be among 20 to 29-year-olds, which stood at 647.3 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to January 17, down week-on-week from 923.2.

Among 30 to 39-year-olds, the rate dropped from 804.9 to 628.4, and for 40 to 49-year-olds, it fell from 712.1 to 575.0.

For people 80 and over, the rate has fallen from 622.6 to 515.1.

Some 85per cent of people in Gloucestershire aged 80 and over have received their first dose of Covid-19 vaccine, new data suggests - the highest for any sub-regional area of England.

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Provisional figures from NHS England show the number of first doses broken down by what are called 'STPs' (sustainability and transformational partnerships), each of which contains a number of local authorities, NHS trusts and clinical commissioning groups.

There are 42 STPs covering the whole of England, and figures show that up to January 17 Gloucestershire STP had the highest proportion of people aged 80 and over who had received their first vaccine dose, followed by Northamptonshire (78%) and Hereford & Worcestershire (76%).

The STPs with the lowest proportions were Suffolk & North East Essex (36%) and Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Health and Care (43%).