NEW data shows Herefordshire's coronavirus infection rate has increased over the last seven days, but remains significantly lower than coronavirus hotspots such as Bolton

The statistics, released by the Government, show the rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for each of the 315 local authorities in England.

The figures, for the seven days to September 7, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

CORONAVIRUS LATEST:

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent three days (September 8-10) has been excluded as it is incomplete and likely to be revised.

In Herefordshire, the rate has risen from 3.1 in figures for the week to August 31 to 14 for the period to September 7.

That is signifcantly lower than when it peaked at 43.7 nearly two months ago when 83 new cases were found in the seven days to July 13, linked to an outbreak on AS Green and Co in Mathon near Ledbury.

Last month the figure had been as low as 2.1 in the week to August 11.

In Bolton, 462 new cases were recorded in the seven days to September 7 – the equivalent of 160.7 per 100,000 people. This is the highest rate in England and it is up sharply from 80.0 in the seven days to August 31.

ALSO READ:

Birmingham has the second highest rate, up from 32.0 to 85.4 with 975 new cases.

Preston is in third place, where the rate has risen from 35.6 to 85.2, with 122 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on September 10 on the Government’s coronavirus online dashboard.

Top 20 areas

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to September 7; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to September 7; rate of new cases in the seven days to August 31; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 31.​

  1. Bolton 160.7 (462), 80.0 (230)
  2. Birmingham 85.4 (975), 32.0 (365)
  3. Preston 85.2 (122), 35.6 (51)
  4. Tameside 84.8 (192), 39.3 (89)
  5. Salford 82.3 (213), 39.4 (102)
  6. Bradford 82.3 (444), 59.3 (320)
  7. Sunderland 80.3 (223), 9.0 (25)
  8. Blackburn with Darwen 80.2 (120), 44.1 (66)
  9. Burnley 77.6 (69), 32.6 (29)
  10. Hyndburn 74.0 (60), 23.4 (19)
  11. Oldham 73.0 (173), 62.0 (147)
  12. Rochdale 72.8 (162), 44.5 (99)
  13. Manchester 71.6 (396), 42.5 (235)
  14. Bury 69.6 (133), 27.2 (52)
  15. Leeds 67.6 (536), 33.5 (266)
  16. Solihull 67.5 (146), 9.7 (21)
  17. Leicester 64.9 (230), 25.4 (90)
  18. Wirral 61.7 (200), 32.4 (105)
  19. Oadby and Wigston 61.4 (35), 8.8 (5)
  20. Liverpool 60.8 (303), 18.3 (91)

Here's how Herefordshire's infection rate compares to nearby areas:

52. Malvern Hills 35.6 (28), 3.8 (3)

186. Herefordshire 14.0 (27), 3.1 (6)

221. Cheltenham 11.2 (13), 12.9 (15)

238. Gloucester 10.1 (13), 9.3 (12)

241. Worcester 9.9 (10), 9.9 (10)

253. Shropshire 9.3 (30), 9.0 (29)

264. Forest of Dean 8.1 (7), 3.5 (3)

Last Thursday, five areas had no new coronavirus cases in the seven day period, but in the most recent period all 315 areas reported new cases.