Braintree, Peterborough and Luton among top 10 areas with highest Covid-19 rates

Coronavirus collage of Luton Peterborough and Braintree town centres
Braintree, Peterborough and Luton among top 10 areas in England with the highest Covid-19 rates Credit: ITV News Anglia

Weekly coronavirus testing figures from Public Health England have revealed big rises in Covid-19 cases in Braintree in Essex and in Luton in Bedfordshire.

Those two areas, along with Peterborough in Cambridgeshire, had among the ten highest infection rates in England during the week to 14 July.

The figures are based on tests carried out in the seven days to 14 July as recorded by Public Health England on the government's coronavirus data dashboard on Friday 17 July. The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 in the population.

  • Braintree - up from 4.0 to 33.0, where 50 new cases have been recorded in the seven days to 14 July, linked to an outbreak in a care home

  • Luton - up from 14.0 to 29.4, where 63 new cases have been recorded in the seven days to 14 July

  • Peterborough - up from 23.9 to 29.8, with 60 new cases recorded in the seven days to 14 July

Braintree was seventh in the list of highest Covid-19 rates in English local authorities with Peterborough eighth and Luton tenth.

The rates in the Anglia region are still significantly lower than in Leicester which has been subject to a local lockdown.

In Leicester, the rate has dropped from 126.1 in the seven days to 7 July to 92.9 in the seven days to 14 July 14. It was 132.3 in the seven days to June 30.

Across the Anglia region there have been more than 28,000 confirmed coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic Credit: PA images

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been more than 28,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the Anglia region and nearly 6,000 people have died with the illness.

In the week to 17 July, there were 508 new positive tests in the Anglia region compared to 448 the week before.

Here is the full list of local authorities in the Anglia region, showing the rate of new cases per 100,000 population in the seven days to 14 July, followed by the equivalent figure for the previous seven days to 7 July in brackets

  • Braintree 33.0 (4.0)

  • Peterborough 29.8 (23.9)

  • Luton 29.4 (14.0)

  • Kettering 24.7 (20.7)

  • Northampton 18.2 (24.0)

  • Corby 11.3 (1.4)

  • Fenland 8.9 (6.9)

  • Bedford 8.7 (16.3)

  • East Northamptonshire 8.5 (12.8)

  • Wellingborough 7.5 (3.8)

  • Southend-on-Sea 7.1 (11.5)

  • Harborough 6.5 (18.4)

  • Dacorum 6.5 (2.6)

  • Central Bedfordshire 5.6 (6.7)

  • South Northamptonshire 5.4 (3.2)

  • Basildon 5.4 (8.6)

  • Thurrock 5.2 (2.9)

  • Rutland 5.0 (2.5)

  • St Albans 4.7 (19.0)

  • South Holland 4.3 (7.4)

  • Welwyn Hatfield 4.1 (4.1)

  • Brentwood 3.9 (7.8)

  • South Cambridgeshire 3.8 (3.8)

  • Rochford 3.4 (9.2)

  • Castle Point 3.3 (7.8)

  • Epping Forest 3.1 (0.0)

  • Norwich 2.8 (1.4)

  • Cambridge 2.4 (4.0)

  • Daventry 2.4 (8.3)

  • Chelmsford 2.3 (5.1)

  • Huntingdonshire 2.3 (2.8)

  • Uttlesford 2.2 (0.0)

  • Milton Keynes 2.2 (1.9)

  • Ipswich 2.2 (2.2)

  • Colchester 2.1 (1.6)

  • Aylesbury Vale 2.0 (9.5)

  • West Suffolk 1.7 (5.0)

  • Tendring 1.4 (4.1)

  • East Suffolk 1.2 (2.4)

  • Harlow 1.2 (1.2)

  • East Cambridgeshire 1.1 (2.2)

  • Babergh 1.1 (0.0)

  • North Norfolk 1.0 (1.0)

  • Broadland 0.8 (1.5)

  • North Hertfordshire 0.8 (2.3)

  • South Norfolk 0.7 (0.7)

  • East Hertfordshire 0.7 (2.7)

  • King's Lynn and West Norfolk 0.7 (0.0)

  • Great Yarmouth 0.0 (0.0)

  • Breckland 0.0 (1.4)

  • Maldon 0.0 (1.6)

  • Mid Suffolk 0.0 (2.0)

  • Stevenage 0.0 (2.3)

The list is based on Public Health England figures updated on July 17 on the Government's coronavirus online dashboard. Data for the most recent three days (July 15-17) has been excluded as it is incomplete and likely to be revised.

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