DOZENS of areas in south Essex remain virtually Covid free despite schools reopening across the region.
There are now 27 parts of south Essex which recorded fewer than three Covid cases in the seven days ending March 16.
It means none of the areas are highlighted on the Government’s Covid hotspots map and infection rates are said to be ‘surpressed’.
It comes despite schools reopening eight days before and mass testing being carried out in secondary and college settings.
The 27 areas in south Essex which are no longer on the hotspots map are: Great Wakering and Foulness
- Thorpe Bay
- Eastwood
- Belfairs
- Leigh
- New Thundersley
- Hullbridge
- Rayleigh North West
- Rettendon and Runwell
- Wickford Shotgate
- Wickford North East
- Vange and Pitsea
- Chalvedon
- Whitmore Way and Fremnells
- Barstable
- Lee Chapel South and Kingswood
- Laindon East and Lee Chapel North
- Bursteads
- Billericay Central and Sunnymede
- Billericay North East
- Billericay Queen's Park
- Billericay Tye Common
- Stanford East
- Stanford West
- Orsett, Bulphan and Hordon-on-the-Hill
- Chadwell St Mary
- Chafford and North Stifford
The promising picture means infection rates in each district and borough in south Essex are all now below 50.
Only Canvey Island Newlands, Canvey Island Leigh Beck, and Grays Chafford Gorges and Orsett Road have localised infection rates above 100.
It comes as latest Government figures show nearly 30 million doses of the Covid vaccine have now been administered in the UK.
In a further boost for ministers and health chiefs, new data has shown the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine is 100 per cent effective at preventing severe disease in patients.
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The US-led study also found it is 79 per cent effective at preventing people catching Covid-19.
Some 32,449 people across all age groups took part in the phase three trial in the US, Chile and Peru, with a total of 141 cases of symptomatic Covid-19 reported.
The results showed among people aged 65 and over, there was 80 per cent protection against developing Covid-19.
The degree of effectiveness against symptomatic Covid-19 was even higher than observed in the Oxford-led clinical trials.
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