New Covid ‘epicentre’ emerges as 144 areas see rise in cases

COVID cases are rising in close to 40 per cent of UK local authorities – this interactive map reveals if your area is on the list.

In the last seven days cases have fallen in 61 per cent of areas and a cluster of areas in Leicestershire in the East Midlands have witnessed a surge in infections.

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There are 144 areas that have seen a rise in cases, which is 38 per cent of local authorities across the country.

The highest rates in the UK still remain in Scotland where West Dunbartonshire continues to have the most infections, with 1,033 new cases in the seven days to September 10 – the equivalent of 1,169.3 per 100,000 people.

This is down slightly from 1,184.1 in the seven days to September 3, government data shows.

East Renfrewshire has the second highest rate, down from 1,101.4 to 1,022.3, with 982 new cases.

Inverclyde has the third highest rate, down from 1,234.1 to 1,013.5, with 781 new cases.

Cases in Scotland have been surging since the remainder of restrictions were lifted on August 8.

First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon this week said that in-person learning would not be able to go ahead in many colleges and universities because of the spread of infection.

She added booster jabs will be rolled out across Scotland in the coming weeks.

Outside of Scotland and Fermanagh & Omagh has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (752.5), Carmarthenshire has the highest rate in Wales (710.3) and Corby in Northamptonshire has the highest rate in England (707.7).

While these places have the highest recorded rates, there are five areas that have seen a steep increase in cases in the last seven days – the majority of which are in the East Midlands.

The Orkney Islands in Scotland has seen the biggest week-on-week rise, jumping from 80.4 to 241.1

Lisburn & Castlereagh in Northern Ireland has seen the second biggest week-on-week increase, going from 475.2 to 632.3 cases per 100,000.

CLUSTER OF CASES

During last summer and into the autumn last year, Leicestershire struggled to bring Covid cases down.

A cluster has now once again emerged in the area with Hinckley & Bosworth in south-western Leicestershire having jumped from 411.7 to 559.5.

Oadby & Wigston, which is on the other side of Leicestershire, has also jumped from 366.4 to 506.0.

North West Leicestershire itself has witnessed an increase, going from 453.2 to 591.6.

In a visit to Leicester earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson thanked locals for their sacrifice and hard work during the pandemic.

“People up and down the country have been through it but for the people or Leicester we all remember how difficult it was.

“So I do want to stress directly, we don’t want to be going back to regional tiering or that type of approach”, he told LeicestershireLive.

As cases rise in the small cluster in Leicestershire, it’s having a knock-on-effect on other areas.

In the last week Blaby has also witnessed a jump in cases, climbing from 429.6 to 564.0.

Charnwood in the north of Leicestershire has also seen an increase, jumping from 426.2 to 477.1.

UK INFECTIONS

The data highlighted above is for specific local authorities, but for the country as a whole, case have dropped by close to 30 per cent.

A further 26,628 infections have been recorded in the latest 24 hour period, compared to 37,489 reported on September 7.

It brings the total number of people who have tested positive for the virus since the pandemic began to 7,283,187.

The UK’s coronavirus death toll also increased by 185, with 134,446 fatalities in total.

The death roll is a rise on Monday’s 61 deaths, and up from the 48 recorded a fortnight ago on August 30.

But the number of infections has dropped by 29 per cent in the last week.

The latest government figures come as the UK revealed its Covid plan for the winter months.

The PM has unveiled a “toolbox” of tough contingency measures that could be imposed at short notice to wrestle down a fresh spike.

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