Herefordshire sees another jump in coronavirus infection rate

Herefordshire Council has already warned if the infection rate rises above 100 new cases per 100,000 people, further restrictions would be needed.

This is likely to mean Herefordshire will go into Tier 2 of the UK Government's local restrictions.

READ MORE: Council warns Herefordshire could need stricter coronavirus rules

The infection rate now stands at 90.2 cases per 100,000 people in the most recent seven-day period, with 174 new cases reported. That's up from 54.5 at the same time last week, and 37.9 the week before.

The rate is the lowest in the West Midlands, however, and remains amongst the lowest in the country.

The figures, for the seven days to October 25, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

Data for the most recent four days (October 26-29) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

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Blackburn with Darwen continues to have the highest rate in England, with 1,203 new cases recorded in the seven days to October 25 – the equivalent of 803.6 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 576.5 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to October 18.

Oldham has the second highest rate, up from 469.0 to 693.3, with 1,644 new cases.

Wigan is in third place, where the rate has risen from 460.4 to 683.4, with 2,246 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on October 29 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

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 25; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 25; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 18; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 18.

1. Blackburn with Darwen 803.6 (1203), 576.5 (863)
2. Oldham 693.3 (1644), 469.0 (1112)
3. Wigan 683.4 (2246), 460.4 (1513)
4. Rossendale 665.9 (476), 537.2 (384)
5. Salford 610.8 (1581), 495.3 (1282)
6. Rochdale 600.2 (1335), 509.4 (1133)
7. Bolton 565.1 (1625), 442.4 (1272)
8. Knowsley 553.5 (835), 664.2 (1002)
9. Doncaster 547.3 (1707), 351.1 (1095)
10. Bury 540.9 (1033), 430.9 (823)
11. Hyndburn 529.3 (429), 383.7 (311)
12. Tameside 528.5 (1197), 371.3 (841)
13. Barnsley 525.8 (1298), 457.3 (1129)
14. Rotherham 512.4 (1360), 386.6 (1026)
15. Manchester 503.9 (2786), 439.2 (2428)
16. Preston 503.7 (721), 394.7 (565)
17. Pendle 499.4 (460), 419.1 (386)
18. Bradford 499.1 (2694), 395.7 (2136)
19. Charnwood 491.3 (913), 284.1 (528)
20. Ribble Valley 481.2 (293), 427.0 (260)

Here is how Herefordshire compares to nearby areas:

151. Worcester 155.1 (157), 91.9 (93)

196. Shropshire 125.3 (405), 84.5 (273)

247. Gloucester 94.5 (122), 77.4 (100)

248. Malvern Hills 94.0 (74), 75.0 (59)

257. Herefordshire 90.2 (174), 54.5 (105)

274. Forest of Dean 79.5 (69), 58.8 (51)

285. Cheltenham 70.5 (82), 64.5 (75)