Middlesbrough has been named as England’s Covid hotspot with the highest rate of cases in the country.
Figures for every local authority area show the north-east town has 1,216 new coronavirus cases in the seven days to July 24 – the equivalent of 862.5 per 100,000 people.
This is down from 1,396.7 in the seven days to July 17.
Nearby Redcar & Cleveland has the second highest rate, down from 1,580.0 to 849.4, with 1,165 new cases, while in more bad news for the area Stockton-on-Tees has the third highest rate, down from 1,199.4 to 759.1, with 1,498 new cases.
The figures, for the seven days to July 24, are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, by specimen date.
The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
The five areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are:
Torridge (up from 253.4 to 295.9)
Wellingborough (302.4 to 342.5)
Breckland (145.7 to 160.8)
Corby (379.4 to 390.5)
Hounslow (324.5 to 328.5)
The list has been calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data published on July 28 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.
