Covid cases: the 10 areas of England with the fastest rise in coronavirus rates
Some regions of the UK have seen large rises in Covid cases in the past week, official figures show. Here are the areas of England which have seen the sharpest spikes.
Coronavirus cases have stopped falling across the UK and have levelled off at a high rate, official figures show.
There were 634,026 cases in the week ending January 21, a 0.2% rise on the number seen the week before.
It is double the number of cases the UK saw in the last week of November, before the Omicron wave.
The flat national picture disguises huge regional variations, with cases up by 26% in a week in Northern Ireland and 20% in the South East of England but down by 21% in Scotland and 15% in the North East.
And it comes as the Plan B restrictions brought in across England to tackle the Omicron wave are on the brink of being lifted.
Case numbers include positive lateral flow tests in England and Northern Ireland but exclude them in Scotland and Wales, making comparisons across the UK nations difficult.
Here are the local authority areas in England where coronavirus cases have risen the most sharply in a week.
1. East Cambridgeshire
East Cambridgeshire has seen the fastest rising Covid case numbers in England. There were 1,073 cases in the week to January 20, a 59% rise on the week before.
2. Winchester
Winchester had 1,486 cases in the week to January 20, a 50% rise on the week before. This was England’s second largest weekly rise.
3. Tewkesbury
Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire saw 1,015 cases in the week to January 20, a 41% rise on the week before.
4. West Oxfordshire
West Oxfordshire had 1,356 cases in the week to January 20, a 41% rise on the week before.