THE coronavirus infection rate in Herefordshire has risen by 75 per cent in one week, taking it to one of the highest levels ever.

The latest figures from Public Health England shows the infection rate – the number of new cases per 100,00 people – has more than doubled over the last two weeks.

The latest figures, for the seven days to January 3, show the infection rates stands at 329.9 new cases per 100,000 people, higher than 188.8 seven days before and 151.5 a fortnight ago.

This is because 636 new cases were recorded during the most recent week, more than than the 364 the previous week.

Separate figures from published on the UK Government website show the number of tests carried out did not change dramatically over December, but the number of those tests coming back positive did.

The figures below are for PCR tests, those carried out at testing centres and processed by a laboratory.

In the seven days to December 6, 5,137 PCR tests were carried out, with 2.1 per cent positivity.

In the seven days to December 13, 5,398 tests were done and 2.4 per cent came back positive.

In the week to December 20, there were 6,249 PCR tests carried out, with 5.1 per cent positive.

A week later on December 27, 5,838 had been done over the seven-day period, and 6.7 per cent were positive.

And by the week to January 2, the most recent data available, that positivity rate had risen to 10.2 per cent, with 6,615 tests done.

Data for the most recent four days (January 4-7) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 309 (98%) have seen a rise in case rates and six (2%) have seen a fall.

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Barking & Dagenham in London continues to have the highest rate in England, with 3,331 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 3 – the equivalent of 1,564.5 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 1,147.0 in the seven days to December 27.

Thurrock in Essex has the second highest rate, up from 1,314.1 to 1,494.2, with 2,605 new cases.

Redbridge in London is in third place, where the rate has increased from 1,191.9 to 1,467.1 with 4,478 new cases.

Here is the top 20 in the list.

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to January 3; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to January 3; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 27; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 27.

  1. Barking and Dagenham, 1564.5, (3331), 1147.0, (2442)
  2. Thurrock, 1494.2, (2605), 1314.1, (2291)
  3. Redbridge, 1467.1, (4478), 1191.9, (3638)
  4. Epping Forest, 1432.2, (1886), 1355.5, (1785)
  5. Castle Point, 1417.4, (1281), 1224.9, (1107)
  6. Newham, 1368.9, (4834), 1088.8, (3845)
  7. Harlow, 1356.4, (1181), 1132.5, (986)
  8. Brentwood, 1339.9, (1032), 1281.5, (987)
  9. Broxbourne, 1327.1, (1291), 1227.4, (1194)
  10. Rushmoor, 1315.0, (1244), 815.0, (771)
  11. Havering, 1303.4, (3383), 1180.5, (3064)
  12. Basildon, 1302.4, (2438), 1045.9, (1958)
  13. Enfield, 1229.2, (4103), 1114.2, (3719)
  14. Tower Hamlets, 1223.4, (3973), 1049.7, (3409)
  15. Dartford, 1215.7, (1369), 1001.7, (1128)
  16. Bexley, 1209.1, (3002), 1124.1, (2791)
  17. Gravesham, 1200.7, (1284), 972.5, (1040)
  18. Southend-on-Sea, 1171.3, (2145), 1014.1, (1857)
  19. Waltham Forest, 1149.9, (3185), 942.3, (2610)
  20. Crawley, 1132.5, (1273), 517.8, (582)

Here's how Herefordshire compares to nearby areas.

134. Worcester, 593.7, (601), 208.5, (211)

167. Gloucester, 504.2, (651), 328.4, (424)

210. Forest of Dean, 436.7, (379), 237.4, (206)

243. Shropshire, 367.0, (1186), 130.0, (420)

262. Herefordshire, 329.9, (636), 188.8, (364)

291. Cheltenham, 273.4, (318), 154.8, (180)

296. Malvern Hills, 259.2, (204), 142.3, (112)