Oxfordshire Covid rise sees whole county reach 'red alert'

Oxford has already been on the high alert level for more than a week after a spike in cases but positive tests in other areas had remained low.

It is triggered when cases reach more than 50 per 100,000 people.

The county's director of public health Ansaf Azhar warned last week Oxford risked 'tough' restrictions if cases were not brought under control.

A national IT error failing to include thousands of cases also suggests the city may have reached that point earlier than previously thought.

ALSO READ: Covid cases in Oxford and Oxfordshire surge after IT error

Now all other areas of the county are at amber - more than 25 cases per 100,000 people - with cases on the rise in every district. 

An update from Oxfordshire County Council states in the seven days to October 2, there were 352 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the county.

This was an increase from 152 new cases the previous week.

Here is the authority's current table showing the situation in the county. 

Oxfordshire coronavirus cases up to October 2. Picture: Oxfordshire County Council

A note with the data states: "Seven-day incidence rates fluctuate on a daily basis.

"To show a consistent picture, this site reports on the nationally available data for the week ending Friday.

ALSO READ: Covid 'chaos' from spreadsheet error 'put people at infection risk'

"It is currently updated weekly by Wednesday morning, at which time the data are less subject to change."

This is what the map looked like last week.

Oxfordshire coronavirus cases up to September 25. Picture: Oxfordshire County Council

This table shows 125 cases in the county to September 25 rather than the 152 stated in the most recent update.

This is possibly due to the spreadsheet problem affecting data between September 25 and October 2.

Public Health England was contacted earlier this week for confirmation of how many Oxford and Oxfordshire cases were impacted but did not respond.