Case numbers of the coronavirus have taken another sharp rise in Stevenage and North Hertfordshire in recent weeks.

With this comes the government’s new ‘rule of six’, which forbids people from meeting in groups larger than six people, inside or outside, for the forseeable future.

Neighbouring local authority Hertsmere was also designated an area of concern by the Department of Health on Friday, as it reported 50 new cases in the week beginning September 7.

So, how bad is it getting in our area?

Hitchin Boys’ School announced this morning it will close, as a number of its staff were self-isolating following a positive case there.

The latest data shows that Stevenage had 27 cases per 100,000 people, between September 4 and September 10. In North Herts, there were 15 cases per 100,000. The average area in England had 18.

During that same time period, there were 24 new cases recorded in Stevenage, up 14 compared with the previous week.

There were 20 new cases in North Herts, up 12 from the previous week.

There has been a total of 386 cases up to September 13 in Stevenage and a total of 432 in North Herts.

Stevenage has recorded 60 coronavirus-related deaths, with 98 in North Herts, up to August 28.

The daily number of tests processed, reported on Thursday, September 10 was 227,465, and the R-rate of the virus is between 1 and 1,2, as of Friday, September 11.