Updated
Dacorum has recorded 186 new positive Covid-19 today (January 1).
The total for the borough is now 4,402, according to the latest figures from Public Health England.
The incidence rate over the last 7 days is 540.8 per 100,000 population (the period represented is the 7 days ending December 27).
Coronavirus stock image
There have been 1,792 new cases in Hertfordshire, the total is now 40,373.
According to Public Health England there were 285 confirmed COVID-19 patients in West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust on Wednesday, December 30, and 18 were on mechanical ventilation beds.
There have been four new deaths recorded in Dacorum, the total is 138, and there have been 19 new deaths in Hertfordshire, the total is now 1,185 - according to Public Health England.
Watford
Observer understands. This comes after the chief nurse at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust issued a seperate public appeal for the public to stay at home after seeing “too many” people coming in and staff are working “flat out”. In a verified message issued to staff members at the trust - which runs Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead hospitals – staff were told “urgent help” is needed, particularly over the next few days. Annual leave for frontline staff that may have been booked between now and February is urged to be postponed. While the request does not formally force staff to cancel their annual leave, it says the recommendation is voluntary, but urgent.
Darryl Keen, Hertfordshire’s chief fire officer and strategic lead of the countywide response to Covid-19, said: “If your plans for New Year’s Eve involve anything other than staying in, you need to put them on hold. Right now, the only way of protecting yourself and your family is to minimise the amount of time you spend outside your home. “We should be under no illusions – the situation we are in right now is extremely serious. I urge you to think of others, including those working hard to treat people in our hospitals, and play your part.” Hertfordshire Constabulary have also recently pleaded that people adhere to the rules, saying officers are poised to issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to anyone who chooses to organise or attend a mass gathering.
Hertfordshire Tier 4: Just four critical care beds available in Herts last weekend as hospitals feel strain
One trust was at full capacity last weekend as cases continue to rise
Hospitals across the county are beginning to feel the strain of the second wave (Image: Hannah McKay/PA Wire)
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A deserted Watford town centre March was the month that the UK went into lockdown as the coronavirus crisis escalated. This was the scene in a deserted Watford town centre as people obeyed government rules to stay at home due to the pandemic. Pubs, bars and restaurants were closed, with normally busy areas in the town centre practically a ghost town as the UK remained on lockdown. It came after the Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who also tested positive for coronavirus towards the end of the month – announced that people should only leave their homes to exercise once a day, travel for essential work and shop for essential items.