Covid cases in Essex have soared, putting a strain on many NHS services in the county.

Earlier this week, the Essex Resilience Forum (ERF) declared a 'major incident' as the number of patients receiving treatment exceeded those seen at the peak of the first wave of the virus.

This means the county can seek further financial support from the Government in a bid to help ease the pressure on the NHS.

The ERF, which consists of the NHS, blue light responders and local authorities, says pressures are being felt primarily in NHS and local authority services and are associated with critical care and bed capacity, staff sickness or self-isolation levels and the system’s ability to discharge patients quickly into safe environments.

Why are we in this situation?

Essex County Council compiled data from Public Health England which reflects the scale of the problem. The data excludes Southend and Thurrock.

Cases and rates as of December 24:

• There were 13,270 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Essex

• The weekly case rate for Essex is 891 compared to 660 the week before

• The highest weekly case rates were in Brentwood and Epping Forest, with rates of 1471.3 and 1,435.1, respectively.

Hospitals status as of December 29:

• There were 1,107 beds occupied by confirmed COVID-19 patients in Essex hospital trusts.

• This equates to 32 per cent of trust capacity and is 45 per cent higher compared to bed occupancy one week previous (December 22).

Read the data on cases in Essex by district, per 100,000 per week (as of December 29):

What are Essex County Council doing about this?

The council has put together a draft local outbreak plan which is set to be scrutinised soon for approval.

To read it, click here.