An app that tracks the number of people with coronavirus symptoms suggests there could still be hundreds of active cases of Covid-19 in south Essex.

The latest Government figures show there were only 50 new infections recorded in the five boroughs and districts in the region in the week ending May 21.

Thurrock saw the highest number of new cases with 17, while there was 16 in Southend.

Only nine cases were recorded in Basildon and four each in Castle Point and Rochford respectively.

It means all boroughs and districts in south Essex have infection rates below 10 cases per 100,000 people.

But the Zoe Covid symptom study, which is partially run by experts at King’s College London, suggests there could be significantly more active cases of the virus in some areas.

The study, which uses data from a smartphone app which records the number of people registering symptoms of Covid, shows there could be as many as 151 active cases in Basildon right now.

It also estimates there are 46 cases in Southend, 25 in Thurrock, 24 in Castle Point and 18 in Rochford.

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The figures are still way down on the numbers recorded in the second wave of infections seen at the start of the year, where both the Basildon and Southend boroughs were seeing more than 1,000 cases recorded each week.

The latest data comes as the Government had hinted plans to remove all social distancing measures by June 21 could be delayed due to the Indian variant of coronavirus, which is spreading in some parts of the UK.

Only a handful of cases of the variant have been recorded in south Essex in recent weeks, but residents have been urged to take regular tests to ensure there is no outbreak in the community.

Professor Neil Ferguson told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the June 21 road map date for England hangs in the balance.

He said experts were still concerned about issues including the transmissibility of the Indian variant and “Step 4 (of the road map) is rather in the balance, the data collected in the next two to three weeks will be critical”.

He added: “The key issue as to whether we can go forward is: will the surge caused by the Indian variant – and we do think there will be a surge – be more than has been already planned in to the relaxation measures?

“So it was always expected that relaxation would lead to a surge in infections and to some extent a small third wave of transmission – that’s inevitable if you allow contact rates in population to go up, even despite immunity – (but) we can’t cope with that being too large.

“In the next two or three weeks we will be able to come to a firm assessment of whether it’s possible to go forward.”