Hertfordshire has recorded its lowest number of new daily cases of coronavirus for more than a month.

A total of 320 new cases had been added when the government dashboard was updated on Tuesday – the lowest total in the county since mid-December, when Hertfordshire moved into Tier 3 and then Tier 4.

However, the case numbers across the county are still higher than public health officials would like them to be and hospitals remain incredibly busy, and the county’s public health director has warned there is "no cause for complacency".

But Tuesday’s figures, which follow on from similarly lower numbers on Monday, suggest residents have done what was desperately needed to bring the spread of Covid under control in Hertfordshire.

And as part of a drive to keep cases under control, a rapid testing programme, capable of telling someone within 45 minutes if they have Covid, is up and running in the county for people who cannot work from home and who do not have any Covid symptoms.

Which districts have seen the biggest drop in cases?

It was barely three weeks ago that some of Hertfordshire’s districts, towns and villages were recording weekly infection rates equivalent to more than 1,000 cases per 100,000 population, while more than 1,500 people a day were testing positive for the disease.

Public health chief Jim McManus admitted in a media briefing last week the county is in a better current position than he had feared it might be, with many areas now recording rates under 500, while some villages have weekly case numbers now in single digits.

St Albans district currently has the lowest weekly infection rate in Hertfordshire, at 284.9 cases per 100,0000 in the seven days to January 22, while the district of Broxbourne saw the biggest decline in cases from the final week of 2020 (down 817 cases).

The number of weekly new cases in Watford, Hertsmere, and Three Rivers halved in the seven days to January 21, compared with the final week of 2020 as the chart below shows.

Around 40 to 50,000 people continue to be tested for Covid every week in Hertfordshire, which is around 10,000 tests lower than the Christmas and New year period.

But importantly, the county’s testing positivity rate has reduced from more than 22 per cent to below 15 per cent, which means the proportion of people testing positive has dropped.

Which towns and villages have seen the biggest drop in cases?

Most of Watford, Rickmansworth, Bushey, St Albans, and even Borehamwood now have seen case numbers come down dramatically.

When Hertsmere was pushed into emergency tier 3 measures in December, Bushey had one of the highest infection rates in the region, but this area is no longer considered a Covid hotspot.

Rickmansworth has seen a very sharp and quick decline in cases and now has the lowest infection rate of all of the big towns in south west Hertfordshire.

Cases are also coming down in most parts of Watford, particularly in northern parts of the town and the town centre.

Holywell, in the west of the town, currently has the highest weekly infection rate out of any ward in Watford, Hertsmere, Three Rivers, St Albans, and Dacorum, with a rate of 777.4 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to January 21 (73 cases).

Rates in Borehamwood remained stubbornly high throughout most of January, with rates over 1,000 across the whole town, but now we are finally seeing signs of lockdown working, with rates more than halving in some parts of the town such as Hillside ward.

Neighbouring Elstree and Radlett have also seen case numbers drop rapidly.

The chart below reveals how many cases there have been in your area in the seven days to January 21 and that compares to the previous week.

Deaths highest since the spring peak

Despite sinking infection rates and welcoming news about the number of vaccinations being carried out in Hertfordshire, the situation in hospitals remains very serious.

West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust is still looking after more than double the number of Covid patients it was caring for at any one time during the spring (more than 300 as of Jan 19), while 60 new deaths reported by NHS England for the trust yesterday – over several days in January – was the highest out of any trust in the whole of England.

The trust, which runs Watford General, has recorded more than 250 deaths of patients who died within 28 days of a positive Covid test result, since the beginning of December.

Read more: More than 150 Covid deaths reported at hospital trust in January

While separate figures from the government reveal just under half of 1,885 deaths of Hertfordshire residents, where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate, occurred in December and January.

A total of 199 Covid deaths in Hertfordshire in the week ending January 15 is the second highest since the pandemic began, only topped by 203 deaths reported in the seven days to April 17.