THE highest amount of coronavirus cases in Swindon is among 20-to-24-year-olds.

The borough council’s public health boss Steve Maddern revealed the figures during an online Q&A.

He added: “This tends to be female dominant – not majorly, just in 60 per cent of cases. We do see Covid cases across the life course, though it’s in the 20-to-24-year-olds that we’re seeing higher cases.

“If you’re in that age group, make sure you’re complying with the guidelines and not mixing with other people. The key message is stay at home.”

The 25-to-39-year-old bracket has had the second-highest amount of coronavirus cases in the borough.

Mr Maddern added that in the first lockdown, coronavirus cases were mainly spread around the SN1 and SN2 postcodes but now positive results are coming in from every postcode in the borough, with “marked increases” in SN1, SN2, SN3, SN4 and SN5.

Swindon’s case rate is higher than the rest of the south west because much of the region is rural whereas Swindon is densely-populated and urban.

Since the pandemic began, 8,088 cases have been confirmed in the borough and 156 people have died – 13 of them in the last week.

Wednesday’s case rate of 491 per 100,000 population is much lower than the rate of 642 per 100,000 seen at the start of the year, is higher than the south west’s average of 385 per 100,000 and less than England’s average of 609 per 100,000.

The town is seeing around 120 new cases a day, with 1,100 confirmed in the last seven days – which is a lower total than in previous weeks.