As a new, more contagious variant of Covid-19 ripped across the South East, every area of Sussex saw their cases skyrocket and Worthing was no different.
When we entered the national lockdown on January 4, Worthing had an infection rate of 744.3 cases per 100,000 people. The average in the United Kingdom was 642.
In many areas of the town cases continued to rise as the stricter social restrictions took time to show their effects.
Now, as of February 12, Worthing has an infection rate of 92.2 cases per 100,000 people, according to Public Health England. That is around one third below the national average of 125.
With Boris Johnson expected to announce a ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown on Monday (February 22) and over 15 million doses of the vaccination offered across the country, things are slowly starting to look up.
These figures show the impact of lockdown in all of Worthing’s neighbourhoods, ranked by the percentage decrease in cases.
In some areas, infection rates did not peak until one or two weeks into lockdown, so that is the figure used for comparison. Some neighbourhoods peaked as we entered lockdown on January 4.
1. Salvington - 63%
Salvington's infection rate peaked at 501.6 but has fallen to 188.1 Photo: Google
2. Worthing Central - 84%
Worthing Central's infection rate peaked at 952.6 but has fallen to 155.5 Photo: Google
3. Goring - 84.6%
Goring's infection rate peaked at 643.4 but has fallen to 99 Photo: Google
4. High Salvington and Findon Valley - 87%
High Salvington and Findon Valley's infection rate peaked at 496.9 but has fallen to 65.4 Photo: Google