A NEW graph shows the spread of Covid-19 appears to be slowing down in Worcestershire.

But the crisis is far from over, with the government continuing to stress county residents should follow the rules and only go out for essential journeys during this lockdown period.

The new graph tracks COVID-19 cases by Upper Tier Local Authority (UTLA) and shows Worcestershire's rise in cases since registering its 10th confirmed case.

The graph, that takes in the period between March 9 and April 7, shows initially the county was tracking a line of cases doubling every two days.

Then, after six days - potentially from the impact of lockdown measures being introduced - the rise became less steep in the county, moving to doubling every three days.

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And the graph's last recorded data, on April 7, shows Worcestershire had moved below that three day line, and now looks to be heading towards cases doubling weekly.

In considering the information it is worth keeping in mind that generally England and UK as a whole is currently in the acceleration phase of the COVID-19 curve, and yet to reach a peak.

And the graph is also based on government figures of the numbers of confirmed cases, and will not include people who had symptoms, stayed at home and were not tested.

The graph is the work of health data group Dr Foster, which works with healthcare organisations. Jason Harries, chief executive of Dr Foster said: “We are being bombarded with information about COVID-19 and with this graph we hope to simplify the data for the benefit of both healthcare organisations and the public.”

The graph can be viewed at drfoster.com/2020/04/03/dr-foster-local-authority-graph-highlights-covid-19-variation-across-england.

At the time of writing Public Health England records that Worcestershire, with a population of around 590,000, has had 439 coronavirus cases in total.