THE coronavirus infection rate in Herefordshire has almost doubled over the last week after 70 new cases have been found. 

The infection rates show how many people per 100,000 have tested positive for the virus in each of England's 315 local authority areas over the last seven days.

Herefordshire's rate of 37.9 far below that of areas set to be put under stricter lockdown measures later this week.

The rate in Herefordshire has risen from 21.3 last Thursday (October 8), and 12.4 a fortnight ago (October 1).

The figures, for the seven days to October 11, 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 four days (October 12-15) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

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Nottingham continues to have the highest rate in England, with 3,070 new cases recorded in the seven days to October 11 – the equivalent of 922.2 cases per 100,000 people.

The city is set to move up to the "high" coronavirus alert level on Saturday, which will stop households mixing indoors, among other restrictions.

This is a big leap from 609.8 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to October 4.

Knowsley in Merseyside has the second highest rate, which has climbed from 602.5 to 699.3, with 1,055 new cases.

Liverpool is in third place, where the rate has increased from 580.1 to 676.6, with 3,370 new cases.

The rate in Manchester has fallen from 558.0 to 473.0, with 2,615 new cases recorded.

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 October 11; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 11; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 4; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 4.

  1. Nottingham 922.2 (3070), 609.8 (2030)
  2. Knowsley 699.3 (1055), 602.5 (909)
  3. Liverpool 676.6 (3370), 580.1 (2889)
  4. Burnley 605.0 (538), 415.0 (369)
  5. Sefton 475.7 (1315), 370.8 (1025)
  6. Manchester 473.0 (2615), 558.0 (3085)
  7. Pendle 469.0 (432), 307.2 (283)
  8. West Lancashire 465.4 (532), 293.9 (336)
  9. Newcastle upon Tyne 463.3 (1403), 492.0 (1490)
  10. Sheffield 444.2 (2598), 385.7 (2256)
  11. St. Helens 442.5 (799), 347.2 (627)
  12. Blackburn with Darwen 442.2 (662), 257.9 (386)
  13. Rochdale 427.6 (951), 335.4 (746)
  14. Wigan 404.4 (1329), 274.1 (901)
  15. Leeds 392.7 (3115), 379.1 (3007)
  16. Salford 389.4 (1008), 317.2 (821)
  17. Halton 386.4 (500), 343.1 (444)
  18. Bury 384.8 (735), 290.6 (555)
  19. Oldham 378.3 (897), 295.6 (701)
  20. Exeter 376.7 (495), 358.4 (471)

Here's how Herefordshire compares to nearby areas:

177. Shropshire 86.3 (279), 59.1 (191

198. Worcester 78.0 (79), 70.1 (71)

201. Malvern Hills 76.2 (60), 59.7 (47)

210. Gloucester 72.0 (93), 52.7 (68)

219. Cheltenham 67.9 (79), 49.0 (57)

257. Forest of Dean 54.2 (47), 34.6 (30)

296. Herefordshire 37.9 (73), 22.3 (43)