THE number of coronavirus cases in the city has risen among secondary school children, the lastest figures show.

In the seven days up to September 17, the number of confirmed new Covid-19 cases in Brighton and Hove dropped by 33 per cent to 489.

That is equivalent to a weekly rate of 167.6 per 100,000 residents - lower than the rate for England of 258 per hundred thousand people and the South East rate of 217.1 per hundred thousand.

Alistair Hill, director of public health at Brighton and Hove City Council, said: "Cases in Brighton and Hove have continued to fall in most age groups over the last week, however similar to the rest of the country we are seeing an increase in cases in secondary school aged children and young people.

“I want to thank school staff, families and pupils for everything they are doing to prevent further transmission.

“Covid vaccinations are now widely available to anyone aged 16 and over, and in the last few days the NHS Covid vaccination programme for 12-15 year olds began rolling out locally.”

The city council has urged residents to taking twice-weekly lateral flow tests at home and to meet outside where possible.

It comes as booster jabs of Covid-19 vaccine are now being rolled out across the UK for people aged 50 and over or who are clinically vulnerable – but millions of people have still not had even one dose.

Just over 27 per cent of the population is currently estimated to be unvaccinated, according to the latest figures.

This is the equivalent of 18.4 million people.

Nearly a third (5.7 million) of this total are aged 16 and over and are therefore eligible to get the vaccine right now.

A further 3.2 million are aged 12 to 15, and have just started to be offered a first jab.