Coronavirus: HMP Lowdham Grange cases increase to 215

There are currently 875 prisoners and 500 staff at Lowdham Grange

The number of Covid-19 cases at a Nottinghamshire prison has reached more than 200, the county's director of public health confirmed.

A total of 172 prisoners and 43 staff at HMP Lowdham Grange have tested positive.

It represents a significant increase on 84 recorded cases a week ago.

Jonathan Gribbin said the prison outbreak represented a part of the increase in cases across the Newark and Sherwood district.

Jonathan Gribbin said people living in the Newark and Sherwood district needed to heed the same advice as other Nottinghamshire residents

The figures were revealed in a briefing on Friday to discuss Covid-19 infection rates in the county, with Nottingham currently having the highest rates in the country.

In Newark and Sherwood, Mr Gribbin said the rate is currently 176.9 per 100,000 people, an increase on the previous week.

Mr Gribbin said cases had been recorded "right across" the district, and even when accounting for the increase in cases at the prison, "the overall trajectory in the general population is still in the wrong direction".

"All of the messages that we would have for the rest of Nottinghamshire would also apply to people in Newark and Sherwood," he said.

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