NEW data shows Herefordshire's coronavirus infection rate has fallen over the last seven days and is one of the lowest in the country.

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 August 31, 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.

Data for the most recent three days (September 1-3) has been excluded as it is incomplete and likely to be revised.

In Herefordshire, the rate has fallen from 5.7 in the seven days to August 24 to 3.1 in figures for the period to August 31.

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.

In more recent weeks, the figure had been as low as 2.1 in the week to August 11.

The national picture is less positive, as in Bolton 220 new cases were recorded in the seven days to August 31 – the equivalent of 76.5 per 100,000 people. This is the highest rate in England and it is up sharply from 17.4 in the seven days to August 24.

The rate in Pendle has increased from 60.8 to 71.7, with 66 new cases.

Rossendale is in third place, where the rate has jumped from 15.4 to 64.4 with 46 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on September 3 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 August 31; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 31; rate of new cases in the seven days to August 24; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 24.

  1. Bolton 76.5 (220), 17.4 (50)
  2. Pendle 71.7 (66), 60.8 (56)
  3. Rossendale 64.4 (46), 15.4 (11)
  4. Oldham 61.2 (145), 54.4 (129)
  5. Bradford 56.5 (305), 41.5 (224)
  6. South Tyneside 51.7 (78), 15.9 (24)
  7. Corby 48.5 (35), 23.5 (17)
  8. Rochdale 44.1 (98), 31.9 (71)
  9. Manchester 42.0 (232), 42.0 (232)
  10. Blackburn with Darwen 41.4 (62), 58.1 (87)
  11. Tameside 39.3 (89), 30.5 (69)
  12. Trafford 39.2 (93), 21.1 (50)
  13. Salford 36.7 (95), 25.9 (67)
  14. Preston 35.6 (51), 27.2 (39)
  15. Middlesbrough 34.0 (48), 23.4 (33)
  16. Hertsmere 33.4 (35), 7.6 (8)
  17. Burnley 32.6 (29), 31.5 (28)
  18. Leeds 32.5 (258), 23.2 (184)
  19. Birmingham 31.2 (356), 24.5 (280)
  20. Wirral 29.6 (96), 13.9 (45)

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

94. Cheltenham 12.9 (15), 6.0 (7)

155. Worcester 8.9 (9), 4.0 (4)

161. Gloucester 8.5 (11), 3.9 (5)

169. Shropshire 8.0 (26), 8.0 (26

268. Malvern Hills 3.8 (3), 3.8 (3)

271. Forest of Dean 3.5 (3), 0.0 (0)

279. Herefordshire 3.1 (6), 5.7 (11)

Only five areas had no new coronavirus cases reported in the seven day period, with Gosport, Chesterfield and West Devon among them.