By Rachael Grealish

The number of new COVID-19 cases decreased again in Cumbria as did the number of hospitalisations across the county, the latest figures show.

The latest figures published today, Thursday February 11, show there were 866 new cases in Cumbria which is decrease of 466, or 35 percent, from 1,332 cases in the previous week.

Carlisle lost its top spot this week as Allerdale overtook the city in having the greatest number of new cases, with 265.

Allerdale also overtook Carlisle in having the highest rate of new cases with 271 new cases per 100k population.

Carlisle actually had the largest proportional decrease in new cases, dropping by 59 percent from 352 last week to 144 this week.

But overall, the number of confirmed new positive cases of the virus decreased in all Cumbrian districts and boroughs.

Hospitals across the whole county finally had a small alleviation of pressure from the virus as hospitalisations decreased for both the North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust (NCIC) and the University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB).

The number of new patients admitted with COVID-19 Positive status decreased from the previous week in both NCIC and UHMB by 28 percent and 31 percent respectively.

Furthermore, the average number of patients with COVID-19 in beds decreased from the previous week in both NCIC and UHMB by 31 percent and 16 percent respectively.

Unfortunately another 107 deaths were recorded across the county, taking the total to a devastating 1,173 COVID-19 related deaths, up to Friday January 29.

75 deaths occurred in hospitals across the county and 22 were in care homes.

Although the number of COVID-19 related death registrations increased, the number of COVID-19 related deaths occurring decreased slightly.

The 55-64 age group accounted for the greatest number of new cases in Cumbria, followed closely by the 25-34, 45-54 and 35-44 age groups.

The figures also showed there were decreases in new cases in all age groups in Cumbria from the previous week.

There are still a number of incidents and positive cases across all education settings, however, numbers have fallen compared to the previous week.

The full list of figures can be found here.