THE infection rate of coronavirus and the death toll in the borough featured in a report by the borough's leading councillor for health this week.

Cllr Allen Mayes, portfolio holder for health, reported to a meeting of the full council that the authority is doing 'an excellent job' protecting the health and well-being of the borough's residents.

He could only update councillors to early in August, but said: "As of August 14 there had been a total of 149 deaths involving COVID-19 amongst Thurrock residents. Fortunately mortality levels have subsequently fallen and we have had no deaths involving COVID-19 since the week ending 17th July 2020 for Thurrock residents.

As of 4 September there had been 631 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Thurrock. However due to restrictive testing criteria because of lab capacity early in the pandemic, we know that there would have been more cases than this. During the peak months of the pandemic, March to early May 2020, confirmed cases totalled approximately 359. Figures for July 2020 and August show 74 confirmed cases.

"To date, over the course of the pandemic the case rate per 100,000 population in Thurrock (366 cases per 100,000) has been lower than that of the East of England region (434 cases per 100,000).

"At present, we currently have very few new confirmed cases in Thurrock; typically have a maximum of three new confirmed cases on a given day. The current seven day average rate for cases per 100,000 is 7.46 cases. This places Thurrock 110th out of 149 authorities in England, where a rank of 1 represents the highest rate and 149 the lowest.

"The average age of those infected has fallen considerably from earlier in the pandemic. Currently most new cases are in young adults who are at low risk of serious health complications from becoming infected.

Cllr Mayes said: "The last six months have demonstrated to all of us just how important public health is. The COVID-19 pandemic has clearly shown that we should take care of the entire communities' health needs to keep all of us safe and well.

"Our public health team has done a fantastic job. Locally we have seen extremely low prevalence of coronavirus thanks in no small part to their efforts. They have established excellent local test and trace and outbreak control plans which provide for local needs, while following national best practice.

"On top of this there has been a great deal of positive work done to protect residents' mental health.

"Thurrock Council, and our NHS partners, remain committed to developing four Integrated Medical Centres to ensure that we have state of the art medical centres in the heart of the borough's communities."

The full report can be read here.