THE number of coronavirus cases confirmed in Sussex rose by just one overnight.

The only new case in the county to be registered by Public Health England yesterday was in East Sussex.

This takes the total number of cases in the county to 191.

>>>READ MORE: Latest Sussex coronavirus news

But this figure is dwarfed by staitsics from neighbouring counties.

In Hampshire, there have been 498 people diagnosed with coronavirus while the number of patients in Surrey stands at 358.

The Sussex total is also surpassed by areas such as Croydon which has had 313 test positive for the illness.

There have been 33 cases in Brighton and Hove, 44 in East Sussex and 113 in West Sussex.

The national total climbed from 19,522 to 22,141 yesterday.

Early last month, Brighton and Hove became the epicentre of the UK outbreak of coronavirus with seven patients in the area being among the first people in the country to be confirmed as having contracted the illness.

They had caught coronavirus from a Hove man who had been on a business trip to Singapore, where he had contracted the illness.

All of these early patients are reported to have recovered.

Speaking earlier this month, Hove MP Peter Kyle commented on “how effective that early strategy was when we look back”.

He said: “We had seven confirmed cases of Covid-19 but none of them passed it on to a single person. It was a stunning achievement but I saw close-up just how big the operation to achieve it was.”

He said he had spoken to experts at the time and praised their work to ensure “that outbreak in our community was halted”.

The Labour MP said: “I’ve read everything I can lay my hands on about Covid-19 and one raw statistic illustrates why it has wreaked so much havoc around the world.

“Seasonal flu is, as we all know, pretty infectious.

“After ten ‘infective cycles’ - one person passing it on to the next ten times - 14 people will have been infected.

“Now compare that to Covid-19. After ten infective cycles, Covid-19 will have infected 59,000 people (this assumes no mitigation measures of course but it shows what we’re up against).

“This tells us just how remarkable that operation in Brighton and Hove was to halt infection last month and also explains why experts believed that an epidemic across Britain was inevitable.”

  • The coronavirus Sussex Crisis Fund has been set up to help those affected by the pandemic. The Argus’s charity and American Express have each donated £50,000 to kick-start the appeal. Grants will usually be for up to £5,000. More information is available at www.sussexgiving. org.uk/apply. To donate visit www.totalgiving.co.uk/appeal/sussexcrisisfund