The UK government is bracing for a huge surge in Covid-19 cases following the lifting of all remaining lockdown restrictions in England on 19 July, with expectations infections could rise to around 100,000 cases per day. The recent surge in cases has been fuelled by the spread of the highly contagious Delta Covid variant, which first originated in India, with 99 per cent of all local areas in England seeing a week-on-week rise in rates according to Public Health England data. But how does the picture look across the whole country? Listed are the 15 areas of the UK which currently have the coronavirus case rates right now, based on the seven days up to 1 July. Images are for illustrative purposes.
9. East Linolnshire, Lincolnshire
North East Lincolnshire’s Covid-19 case rate is 970 and the area had 607.9 new cases. Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS
10. Sunderland, Tyne and Wear
Sunderland’s Covid-19 case rate is 1,684 and the area had 606.4 new cases. Photo: Ian Forsyth
11. Hyndburn, Lancashire
Hyndburn’s Covid-19 case rate is 488 and the area had 602.1 new cases. Photo: OLI SCARFF
12. City of Edinburgh, Scotland
City of Edinburgh’s Covid-19 case rate is 3,135 and the area had 597.2 new cases. Photo: Ian Forsyth