Stuart Keeble, the Suffolk director of Public Health England, has warned Babergh residents need to continue to take the coronavirus threat seriously after latest figures showed the district now has a rate of more than 100 cases per 100,000 per population, one of the highest in Suffolk.

Babergh recorded 91 new cases in the seven days leading up to Tuesday, (November 10) and took the weekly case rate to 101, and the cumulative figure to 761.

The rise is largely down to 45 cases at Magdalen House, a care home in Hadleigh and a case at a secondary school but Stuart Keeble, Suffolk's director of public health pointed out that while Babergh, and Suffolk in general, had comparatively low infections rates, before lockdown places like Blackburn had gone into a Tier 2 restrictions for having a rate of 50 people per 100,000, and Suffolk was currently at 75 per 100,000

Mr Keeble told the county's Health and Wellbeing Board this morning "It is a positive that we are sitting at the lower of rates but we need to be mindful that we still need to be focusing on doing the right things in order to prevent the spread of the virus and continue to take it seriously.

"We have seen a steep increase in Babergh, which is now 101 cases per 100,000 population in the last seven days," he said: "That has been driven by cases at a Hadleigh care home and Hadleigh High School

"We are looking to do more work in the Hadleigh area more broadly."

Three teachers and one pupil at Hadleigh High School have tested positive for the Covid-19 virus, leading to Suffolk's director of public health to step up work in containing the spread in the town.

The confirmed cases has led to nearly 150 students and staff at the school, which is part of the South Suffolk Learning Trust, going into isolation

A spokesman for Suffolk County Council said Hadleigh High School confirmed the positive Covid-19 tests on Wednesday and 140 students and eight teachers went into isolation following guidance from Public Health England (PHE).