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In the week to Thursday, January 21, Derbyshire recorded 4,562 new Covid-19 cases, down from a peak of 5,161 in the week to January 8.

This is a drop of 500 cases – a mere 11.6 per cent – in nearly two weeks.

During previous lockdowns, including that in November, Derbyshire was seeing case numbers fall by 50 per cent and in some districts 70 per cent after two weeks – the amount of time it typically takes for lockdown to show its impact.

Covid cases in Derbyshire are starting to come down but numbers remain very high

While the reduction in overall cases across the county is welcome news, the pace at which this is falling is extremely gradual and at this rate it would take months for case numbers to get to a level deemed manageable by local health officials.

They want to get back to seeing infections in the double figures per week, but Derbyshire is currently seeing thousands.

However, to show the scale of the issue Derbyshire still faces, the county is currently seeing more than three times as many cases in one week as it saw in the entire month of September (1,297).

Derby on its own is still surpassing the number of cases the county saw in the month of September in a single week, with 1,498 cases in the week to January 21.

The city’s weekly case numbers have fallen from a peak of 1,745 cases in the week to January 8.

At this point during previous lockdowns, districts and boroughs were seeing half the number of cases per week.

After some reductions in case rates last week, the county appeared to be turning the corner but now some areas of Derbyshire show their case numbers are increasing again, while others have plateaued.

Case numbers appear to be trending upwards again, at least temporarily, in Bolsover, North East Derbyshire and South Derbyshire.

In Erewash, which had still seen cases rising for the past week, infections seem to have plateaued but remain at an all-time high.

Case numbers in Chesterfield also appear to have plateaued.

Case numbers continue to fall, gradually, in Amber Valley, the Derbyshire Dales, Derby and the High Peak.

Derbyshire Covid cases falling - but only very slowly