Rising cases leave Bristol in 'challenging area'
Bristol is now in a "really challenging area" because of its rising coronavirus rate, the city's mayor said.
The city has now seen 8,051 cases since the pandemic began and its current infection rate is 397.1 cases per 100,000 people. Marvin Rees said they would "stay on the front foot" to tackle the virus. Figures showed the city had 804 new cases in the week to 12 October. That number has risen to 1,840 cases in the week to 2 November. Speaking on Facebook Live, Mr Rees said that the reproduction (R) number of the virus in Bristol now stood between 1.2 and 1.5. "It's above one which indicates that a positive case will deliver more than one other positive case. "We need to get that below one," he said. Shortly before the announcement of a nationwide lockdown, Bristol's director of public health said it was looking "highly likely" that the city would move into the high alert level of Covid-19 restrictions within days. Above national average Mr Rees said: "Obviously we are in that really challenging area now above the national average. "We are part of the South West and historically have done relatively well but we are a major city and those challenges are going to come our way. "But we stay on the front foot trying to tackle this virus." The mayor added that the council found out about the national lockdown at the same time as everyone else, which was "frustrating". "It leaves us as local leaders on the back foot, but the team worked incredibly hard at the weekend," he said. A total of 261 coronavirus-related deaths have been registered in Bristol. Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: bristol@bbc.co.uk