The number of new coronavirus cases has fallen slightly in Brighton and Hove, according to the latest figures.
But there were still 4,155 new covid-19 cases in the seven days to Friday (7 January) or a rate of 1,424 infections for every 100,000 people.
This was down from 4,498 new cases in the seven days to Friday 31 December or a rate of 1,542.
The figures nationally appear to have peaked as well after a huge rise attributed to the rapid spread of the omicron variant since late November.
Yesterday (Tuesday 11 January) the NHS said that 53 patients had covid-19 at the Royal Sussex County Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital, in Brighton.
Of those 53 patients, five or fewer were in intensive care or high dependency beds.
In the final six weeks of 2021, 18 people died in Brighton and Hove with a mention of covid-19 on their death certificate, taking the total to 531 since the pandemic started.
A different data source, the UK coronavirus daily dashboard, said yesterday that three deaths were reported in the previous 24 hours.
The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for covid-19 and whose usual place of residence was in Brighton and Hove.
The dashboard recorded 434 deaths in Brighton and Hove up to yesterday – up from a total of 431 on Monday (10 January).
This means that there have been six deaths reported in the past week, up from three the previous week, although there tend to be time lags between deaths and reporting.