In the seven days up to the day before lockdown started on 5 November, Brighton & Hove had 364 confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the city (based on data published on 10 November).
That is equivalent to a weekly rate of 125 new cases per 100,000 residents. This is lower than the rate for England as a whole at 237 per 100,000 during the same period.
However, Alistair Hill, Director of Public Health, warns it is too early to predict a sustained downward trend from these numbers.
He explained: “The overall fall in rates in the past week is due to a significant 37% drop among young people.
“We want to thank young people and students in the city for helping to slow the spread of infection, often at great sacrifice of the freedom they would normally expect to enjoy at this stage in their lives.”
Mr Hill went on to explain that rates of infection are still too high among adults of all ages.
He said: “The level of infection in working age people remains a concern.
“Therefore I am asking everyone to follow the national lockdown directive to work from home if possible. If you cannot work from home, you can continue to travel to your workplace.
"It is important that tradespeople and other workers who move between people’s homes should closely follow Covid safety measures including washing hands, keeping your distance and wearing a face covering where required.
“At the first sign of any of the Covid symptoms - even if very mild - please self-isolate right away along with your household members and apply for a test. There is plenty of testing capacity in Brighton & Hove at the moment.
“To stop the virus infecting more people in the city and help break the chain of transmission, anyone waiting for a test must self-isolate and respond to NHS Test and Trace if they contact you.”