The number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus in Basildon is beginning to fall. 

New Government figures show cases numbers are dropping across parts of the borough, which is a sign the area's move into Tier 4 could be beginning to bear fruit. 

As a whole, the borough is beginning to fall down the national table, with the latest figures showing Basildon is now ranked sixth worst-hit in the England - less than two weeks after being ranked at the top. 

Here are the areas where it's dropping:

Billericay North East

Total cases 76 -5.0%

Billericay Central & Sunnymede

Total cases 77 -12.5%

Basildon Central & Pipps Hill

Total cases 95 -12.8%

Felmore & Bowers Gifford

Total cases 75 -8.5%

Wickford North East

Total cases 57 -17.4%

Wickford Shotgate

Total cases 88 -11.1%

Whitmore Way & Fremnells

Total cases 101 -17.9%

The drops come as an expert warns national coronavirus restrictions are needed to prevent a “catastrophe” amid rising infections, as England’s hospitals deal with more Covid-19 patients than during the April peak of the first wave.

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Tighter measures - widely dubbed Tier 5 - are required to tackle the new variant of the virus, which is the main reason for the increase in cases, said Professor Andrew Hayward, of the Government’s New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (Nervtag).

The re-opening of schools would see the need for “increased, strict restrictions” in other areas of society “to pay for that”, he added.

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens has warned that doctors and nurses are “back in the eye of the storm”.