An NHS boss has warned that coronavirus cases in Kent will increase "all too rapidly" unless residents follow the government rules.

Wilf Williams, the chief accountable officer at the Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), said Covid-19 remains the "significant focus" of the county-wide health service.

More than 1,314 coronavirus cases were recorded across the 13 districts by Public Health England in the last seven days. This puts Kent at a rate of 83 cases per 100,000 people, almost double the number from last week.

Kent's Covid rate now is nearly 50% below the national average. But in the summer, people would have had to quarantine for 14 days if they came back from a Covid hotspot where there were as few as 20 cases, per 100,000.

NHS bosses have described the pandemic as the "greatest challenge" it has faced in its 72 year history as Kent and Medway CCG's governing board met yesterday to discuss the worrying developments.

Mr Williams said "robust escalation" plans had been put in place to minimise the triple effects of winter pressures, Brexit disruption and Covid on Kent's population of more than 1.5million people.

Speaking to a small group of health chiefs and councillors yesterday, he said: "We know that local infection rates are continuing to increase significantly.

"We are still a long way behind other parts of the country, but on current trends we would be unfortunately catching up all too rapidly unless there is behavioural change."

Earlier today, Nottinghamshire moved into the top tier of Covid restrictions after reporting 338 cases per 100,000 people following a decision made by the Department for Health run by Secretary of State, Matt Hancock, this week.

Around 2,800 people living in the East Midlands county have been infected with the virus over the last seven days. Pubs, betting shops and saunas have shut close, but gyms, hotels and leisure centres have stayed open.

In Kent, there is no indication that the county will face tighter restrictions imminently, but three key concerns were identified by the Kent and Medway CCG as potential risks to the county's health services.

These include virus spikes in Kent's 543 care homes and the need to protect vulnerable members of NHS staff, including black and ethnic minority groups.

Patients facing delays for urgent surgical operations, such as cancer care, has also been identified as a key consideration.

Mr Williams said: "Considerable attention across the CCG continues to be focused on the coronavirus recovery after the first wave of Covid.

"That work has been progressing well and I think we believe it will be well placed, but there are significant risks in terms of re-emergence of the virus."

In September, around 2,800 Kent patients received urgent surgery, which was 41% above the target for that month.

Some areas remain below target, including the number of MRI scans and troubles around Kent GP access, such as Margate's Lime medical centre.

Folkestone and Hythe has fastest growing coronavirus rate in the UK, while Sheppey East's Covid-19 rate is also surging.

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