COVID-19 cases in Berkshire are predicted to rise in the coming weeks with several areas at high risk of becoming coronavirus hotspots.
The risk of a town in Berkshire becoming the UK's latest hotspot is increasing, according to the new tool, with those most at risk including Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough, Reading and West Berkshire, which has a 75% chance over the next two weeks.
The tool predicts which parts of the country have the greatest probability of seeing coronavirus cases rise above 300 per 100,000, which it classes as a 'hotspot.'
Devised by Imperial College London, the website predicts which parts of England and Wales have the greatest probability of seeing cases rise above 50 per 100,000, which it classes as a 'hotspot.'
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The calculator identifies most at-risk borough is Windsor and Maidenhead, which currently has a 75% chance of becoming a hotspot by next week. West Berkshire stands the same chance.
According to the website, there is a 79% probability that the R rate will have increased to be greater than 1 at that point, meaning infections will spread at an increasing rate.
Wokingham, on the other hand, will see the R rate decrease with the probability of new infections increasing by 6 per cent.
Bracknell Forest and Reading are similar, in that both areas will likely to see a reduction in new infections.
The direction is unclear for Slough's R rate.
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The tool predicts there is a 34% chance of Reading becoming a hotspot, and a 30% chance in Wokingham.
Bracknell Forest predicts a 63% chance of more than 300 cases per 100,000 a week and Slough has a 71% chance.
Lead researcher Professor Axel Gandy, from the Department of Mathematics at Imperial, said: "COVID-19 is, unfortunately, very much still with us, but we hope this will be a useful tool for local and national governments trying to bring hotspots under control.
"The model allows us to project where local hotspots of COVID-19 are likely to develop in England and Wales based on the trends that we’re seeing in those areas."
Latest Covid-19 cases and infection rates in Berkshire
These figures are from Wednesday, November 17 at 4pm.
Bracknell Forest: 43 cases, 16.027 total, rate: 389.8 per 100,000 people
Wokingham: 81 cases, 21,194 total, rate 321.9
Reading:89 cases, 23,248 total, rate 310.6
West Berkshire:121 cases, 17,811 total, rate 441.1
Slough: 62 cases, 25,587 total, rate 377.7
Windsor and Maidenhead: 67 cases, 19,838 total, rate 479.9
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