HEREFORDSHIRE'S coronavirus infection rate has fallen after fewer cases have been found in the county — and it's now at the lowest point for 

The infection rate rose slightly in the week before last, but the overall downward trend has continued in the most recent week.

The latest figures, for the seven days to February 28, show the infection rate, which is the number of new cases per 100,00 people, stands at 58.6 new cases per 100,000 people.

That was almost half of the rate of 96 the week before.

The fall is as a result of 113 new cases were recorded during the most recent week, less than the 185 the previous week.

The infection rate is now at its lowest level since early December, shortly before Herefordshire moved into Tier 1 coronavirus restrictions.

Data for the most recent four days (March 1-4) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 13 (4%) have seen a rise in case rates, 299 (95%) have seen a fall and three are unchanged.

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North West Leicestershire has the highest rate in England, with 205 new cases recorded in the seven days to February 28 – the equivalent of 197.9 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down from 201.7 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to February 21.

Corby in Northamptonshire has the second highest rate, down sharply from 351.7 to 188.3, with 136 new cases.

Leicester is in third place, down from 249.0 to 188.0, with 666 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data published on March 4 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Here are the top 20 areas in the list.

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to February 28; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to February 28; rate of new cases in the seven days to February 21; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to February 21.

  1. North West Leicestershire, 197.9, (205), 201.7, (209)
  2. Corby, 188.3, (136), 351.7, (254)
  3. Leicester, 188.0, (666), 249.0, (882)
  4. Peterborough, 177.0, (358), 264.5, (535)
  5. South Holland, 176.8, (168), 187.3, (178)
  6. Fenland, 173.8, (177), 220.9, (225)
  7. Ashfield, 169.6, (217), 223.6, (286)
  8. Mansfield, 164.7, (180), 215.0, (235)
  9. South Derbyshire, 164.1, (176), 166.9, (179)
  10. Redditch, 161.9, (138), 229.9, (196)
  11. Hull, 159.8, (415), 149.4, (388)
  12. Boston, 159.6, (112), 179.6, (126)
  13. Sandwell, 158.0, (519), 252.7, (830)
  14. Oadby and Wigston, 157.9, (90), 164.9, (94)
  15. Bradford, 157.3, (849), 218.1, (1177)
  16. Barnsley, 157.2, (388), 179.0, (442)
  17. Bolton, 150.9, (434), 228.1, (656)
  18. North Warwickshire, 150.2, (98), 236.0, (154)
  19. Gedling, 150.1, (177), 203.6, (240)
  20. Preston, 149.5, (214), 254.3, (364)

Here's how Herefordshire compares to nearby areas.

99. Malvern Hills, 94.0, (74), 136.0, (107)

122. Worcester, 84.0, (85), 125.5, (127)

130. Shropshire, 81.1, (262), 122.9, (397)

191. Herefordshire, 58.6, (113), 96.0, (185)

292. Forest of Dean, 32.3, (28), 58.8, (51)

287. Gloucester, 33.3, (43), 36.4, (47)

298. Cheltenham, 29.2, (34), 38.7, (45)