New Covid ‘epicentre’ emerges in England – is YOUR area on the hotspot list?
COVID cases are on the rise in pockets of England - as a cluster of new hotspots emerges.
While infections across the country have plummeted as the vaccine roll out picks up pace and the second wave starts to tail off, experts have warned we're not out of the woods yet.
The latest data from from Public Health England (PHE) shows cases increased in 120 local authorities in the seven days up to March 19.
For many areas the rise is small, and rates per 100,000 of the population are still significantly lower than at the height of the second peak.
But in five areas - three of which are in the Midlands - cases are rising faster than elsewhere.
Meanwhile, stats from the Government's Covid dashboard also show in the East Midlands, 472 people a day are testing positive for the virus, while in the West Midlands, 569 people each day are being infected.
Across the Midlands as a whole, 1,041 people are testing positive for Covid-19 each day.
In comparison, in the South West where 242 people each day are reporting positive tests and the North East where 323 people are testing positive daily.
Broxtowe in Nottinghamshire which is in the East Midlands, has seen the biggest week-on-week rise, jumping from 50 cases per 100,000 to 92.1.
this week reported that an outbreak at a school in the area had pushed Covid cases up.
Nottinghamshire County Council would not reveal the name of the school but said that public health colleagues are aware situation of this and are supporting the school, to manage and contain the case.
Also in the East Midlands, West Lindsey is another area to have seen a big week-on-week increase.
Cases here have jumped from 77.4 to 113.9.
Looking to the West Midlands, Rugby has also witnessed an increase in infection rates, rising from 67.9 to 103.7.
The other two areas that have seen large week-on-week rises in infection are in Yorkshire and The Humber.
As a whole, the region is recording 878 new Covid infections on a daily basis.
North Lincolnshire has seen a rise in rates from 126.5 to 167.2.
It also has the third highest infection rate in the country and in the last seven days it has recorded a total of 288 new cases.
Barnsley has the highest rate in England and has also seen the biggest week-on-week increase in cases with 478 new cases recorded in the seven days to March 19 - the equivalent of 193.6 cases per 100,000 people.
This is up from 153.9 per 100,000 in the seven days to March 12.
The 120 places where Covid cases are still rising
CASES of Covid-19 are still rising in 120 areas in England.
The figures, for the seven days to March 19, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).
The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
Infections on the LEFT are current rates, and the figure on the RIGHT is the infection rate seven days ago.
Barnsley, 193.6, (478), 153.9, (380)
North Lincolnshire, 167.2, (288), 126.5, (218)
Redditch, 166.5, (142), 152.5, (130)
Rotherham, 144.7, (384), 129.6, (344)
Wakefield, 132.9, (463), 128.6, (448)
Luton, 131.9, (281), 107.5, (229)
Peterborough, 128.1, (259), 126.6, (256)
Doncaster, 121.8, (380), 110.0, (343)
Tameside, 118.3, (268), 117.0, (265)
Fenland, 114.9, (117), 106.0, (108)
West Lindsey, 113.9, (109), 77.4, (74)
Sheffield, 111.5, (652), 97.3, (569)
Salford, 111.3, (288), 110.5, (286)
Bolton, 106.8, (307), 95.3, (274)
Derbyshire Dales, 106.5, (77), 80.2, (58)
Kirklees, 105.7, (465), 97.3, (428)
Rugby, 103.7, (113), 67.9, (74)
Melton, 103.5, (53), 91.8, (47)
Bury, 101.6, (194), 68.6, (131)
Rossendale, 100.7, (72), 88.1, (63)
Wigan, 99.8, (328), 96.5, (317)
East Northamptonshire, 95.2, (90), 84.6, (80)
Broxtowe, 92.1, (105), 50.0, (57)
Newcastle-under-Lyme, 87.3, (113), 73.4, (95)
South Tyneside, 86.1, (130), 74.8, (113)
Solihull, 85.0, (184), 82.7, (179)
South Kesteven, 85.0, (121), 73.0, (104)
Mansfield, 82.3, (90), 76.8, (84)
Burnley, 82.1, (73), 70.9, (63)
Dudley, 80.8, (260), 52.6, (169)
Warrington, 79.5, (167), 70.9, (149)
East Riding of Yorkshire, 79.4, (271), 71.5, (244)
Ashfield, 77.4, (99), 67.2, (86)
Northampton, 76.6, (172), 69.5, (156)
Stevenage, 76.3, (67), 71.7, (63)
Ipswich, 75.2, (103), 56.2, (77)
Northumberland, 71.3, (230), 48.4, (156)
Cannock Chase, 68.5, (69), 54.6, (55)
Selby, 68.4, (62), 60.7, (55)
Stratford-on-Avon, 68.4, (89), 66.9, (87)
Cheshire West and Chester, 68.2, (234), 61.2, (210)
Runnymede, 66.0, (59), 50.3, (45)
Wolverhampton, 65.7, (173), 58.9, (155)
Fylde, 64.4, (52), 59.4, (48)
South Staffordshire, 62.3, (70), 49.8, (56)
Halton, 60.3, (78), 54.9, (71)
Thanet, 59.9, (85), 31.0, (44)
Worcester, 59.3, (60), 53.3, (54)
Castle Point, 57.5, (52), 50.9, (46)
Huntingdonshire, 56.2, (100), 51.7, (92)
Spelthorne, 55.1, (55), 51.1, (51)
Brent, 53.7, (177), 47.3, (156)
Sedgemoor, 53.6, (66), 41.4, (51)
Rushcliffe, 52.9, (63), 50.3, (60)
Crawley, 52.5, (59), 46.3, (52)
Warwick, 50.1, (72), 41.0, (59)
Bristol, 49.6, (230), 46.6, (216)
Windsor and Maidenhead, 49.5, (75), 41.6, (63)
Redbridge, 49.5, (151), 47.2, (144)
Wyre, 48.2, (54), 41.9, (47)
Harrogate, 47.9, (77), 41.0, (66)
Bromsgrove, 46.1, (46), 43.1, (43)
Merton, 46.0, (95), 37.8, (78)
Reading, 45.1, (73), 34.6, (56)
Rochford, 44.6, (39), 33.2, (29)
High Peak, 44.2, (41), 42.1, (39)
Barrow-in-Furness, 43.3, (29), 26.8, (18)
South Oxfordshire, 41.5, (59), 26.7, (38)
Wokingham, 40.9, (70), 35.1, (60)
Canterbury, 40.5, (67), 37.5, (62)
Rutland, 40.1, (16), 27.6, (11)
Ryedale, 39.7, (22), 37.9, (21)
Chichester, 39.6, (48), 16.5, (20)
Tendring, 39.6, (58), 22.5, (33)
Epping Forest, 39.5, (52), 31.9, (42)
Uttlesford, 39.4, (36), 24.1, (22)
Islington, 39.2, (95), 23.9, (58)
Brighton and Hove, 38.5, (112), 28.9, (84)
North Hertfordshire, 38.2, (51), 22.5, (30)
Gosport, 37.7, (32), 35.4, (30)
Ashford, 37.7, (49), 26.1, (34)
Mid Suffolk, 37.5, (39), 20.2, (21)
Rushmoor, 35.9, (34), 30.7, (29)
Plymouth, 35.9, (94), 32.0, (84)
East Cambridgeshire, 35.6, (32), 22.3, (20)
Dartford, 35.5, (40), 30.2, (34)
Winchester, 35.2, (44), 30.4, (38)
Scarborough, 34.0, (37), 24.8, (27)
Brentwood, 33.8, (26), 18.2, (14)
Broadland, 33.6, (44), 30.6, (40)
Norwich, 33.4, (47), 32.0, (45)
Richmond upon Thames, 33.3, (66), 32.8, (65)
Three Rivers, 33.2, (31), 31.1, (29)
Telford and Wrekin, 32.2, (58), 26.7, (48)
Herefordshire, 31.6, (61), 29.6, (57)
Eastbourne, 30.8, (32), 16.4, (17)
Chelmsford, 30.8, (55), 29.1, (52)
Broxbourne, 29.8, (29), 28.8, (28)
Lewisham, 29.4, (90), 28.4, (87)
Lewes, 29.1, (30), 24.2, (25)
Surrey Heath, 28.0, (25), 21.3, (19)
Epsom and Ewell, 27.3, (22), 21.1, (17)
Torbay, 26.4, (36), 25.0, (34)
Mid Devon, 25.5, (21), 23.1, (19)
Cherwell, 25.2, (38), 23.9, (36)
Sevenoaks, 24.8, (30), 21.5, (26)
New Forest, 23.9, (43), 22.2, (40)
Adur, 23.3, (15), 18.7, (12)
Southwark, 23.2, (74), 20.1, (64)
Tunbridge Wells, 22.7, (27), 18.5, (22)
Tonbridge and Malling, 21.2, (28), 18.2, (24)
Eden, 20.7, (11), 16.9, (9)
Cheltenham, 20.6, (24), 16.3, (19)
South Lakeland, 18.1, (19), 15.2, (16)
Mid Sussex, 17.9, (27), 16.6, (25)
Waverley, 16.6, (21), 15.0, (19)
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, 16.3, (93), 14.9, (85)
Wealden, 14.2, (23), 9.9, (16)
Torridge, 11.7, (8), 4.4, (3)
West Devon, 10.8, (6), 5.4, (3)
Corby in Northamptonshire has the second highest rate, unchanged week-on-week at 182.8, with 132 new cases.
There are six other areas where Covid cases have remained unchanged in the last seven days and they are Bolsover, South Derbyshire, Vale of White Horse, Bath and North East Somerset, Maldon and South Hams.
The areas with the lowest infection rates in the country include North Devon, Rother and Copeland.
As infections continue to fall, with small increases seen in other areas, it was yesterday reported that Covid deaths have halved in a fortnight.
Another 112 deaths were reported yesterday, and another 5,379 more people tested positive overnight - a drop from two weeks ago, when 231 people died and 5,766 new infections were reported.
Elsewhere, the seven-day average for deaths is 85 - the lowest rate since October.
The news raises hopes that Britain could soon begin returning to normal - a year on from the start of the first national lockdown.
In England, a further 98 people died in hospital. A 33-year-old with no known underlying health conditions was among four previously healthy people to die.
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The North East and Yorkshire saw the highest number of fatalities at 26, with 24 deaths recorded in the Midlands, 19 in the North West, 16 in London and five in the South East.
Four more people died in both the East of England and the South West.
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In Scotland, seven more deaths were recorded, while in Northern Ireland, two more lost their lives.
No new deaths were recorded in Wales.