A PRE-CHRISTMAS spike in coronavirus cases in Redditch and Bromsgrove was due to outbreaks at a prison and care homes, public health chiefs have said.

Official government figures showed that on December 10, a mammoth 97 positive tests were reported in neighbouring Bromsgrove - almost twice the previous daily high of 58 back in November.

Concerned residents contacted the Advertiser after noticing on the government website that cases had risen a scary 1000% that week in the Stoke Heath, Finstall and Bentley postcode area.

Positive tests in the area increased from eight to 88 in the week between December 5 and 12, although case levels across the rest of Bromsgrove and neighbouring areas remained fairly stable.

Kathryn Cobain, director of Public Health for Worcestershire, said an outbreak at Tardebigge prison HMP Hewell - which is located in that postcode - was the chief reason behind the rise.

The Advertiser understands that, as of the end of last week, 117 inmates at the jail - which houses more than 1,000 prisoners - have tested positive along with 20 members of staff.

Ms Cobain said: “We have seen a rise in the number of positive cases of Covid-19 this week, particularly in the Bromsgrove and Wychavon Districts.

“This rise in figures can be accounted for by separate contained outbreaks of Covid-19 at care homes, HMP Long Lartin and HMP Hewell.

“Worcestershire County Council Public Health is working with Public Health England (PHE) Midlands to provide support to the settings, ensuring that where appropriate, self-isolation and measures to minimise further spread are being put in place.

“We need to make sure that in each case, the outbreak is contained and there is low risk to the wider community.”

There have been more than 2,800 confirmed cases in Bromsgrove during the pandemic and almost 2,350 in neighbouring Redditch.

Altogether, 84 people from Redditch have died with coronavirus this year but the tally of fatalities is much higher in Bromsgrove, at 146.

Bromsgrove no longer has the highest death toll from the virus in Worcestershire, however, with Wyre Forest having now recorded 152 deaths.