Surge in coronavirus in the East of England with hospital admissions highest since April
There has been a significant increase in Covid-19 cases in the Anglia region with more than 2,400 in a single day - the highest daily figure of the pandemic.
On Monday, there were 2,453 positive tests for coronavirus in the area, nearly 1,000 more than the previous day. That figure is likely to increase further as more data is included over the coming days.
The total number of cases in the region in the first week of December was 11,663 - an increase of 2,770 or up 31% compared with the last seven days of November.
The infection rate in the region, which has been lower than the rest of the country is now on a par with the England infection rate at 160 cases per 100,000.
New cases are increasing at the greatest rate in Essex with a surge of 52% in the past week and more than 4,300 positive tests and more than 900 of them in Basildon alone. The town has now topped 500 cases per 100,000 in the latest weekly data and continues to have the third highest infection rate behind two areas of Kent.
The full list of infection rates for each district in the Anglia region is below
There had been signs the coronavirus cases were falling in mid November as the country prepared to come out of the second lockdown. But then they started rising again at the beginning of December even before the new tiered restrictions were re-introduced.
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Hospitals in the area also have more patients with coronavirus than at any time since the end of April.
According to the NHS, there were 1,327 patients in hospitals in the East of England on Thursday. At the peak of the pandemic in mid April, the highest number of patients in hospital in the area was 1,679.
There were 211 new admissions on Tuesday, the latest day for which data is available. There have been only seven days during the entire pandemic when there have been more than 200 patients admitted to the region's hospitals in a single day.
The latest survey of coronavirus cases by the Office of National Statistics reported that the East of England was one of only two areas in England where infections were increasing at the end of November into the start of December.
The study also reported the region had the second lowest proportion of the population testing positive at 0.51% or 1 in 195 of the population. The comparable figure in England was 1 in 115 people infected.
Despite that the government says the R rate - or virus reproduction rate - could now again be above 1 in the region meaning that the disease is spreading.
The official estimate released on Friday put the R rate in the East of England at between 0.9 and 1.1. Last Friday the estimate was 0.9 to 1.0.
One team of researchers at the University of Cambridge Biostatistics Unit is reporting that the region has the highest R rate in England with a median figure of 1.1. That means that every ten people with the disease will go on to infect 11 more. The research suggests the R number could even by as high was 1.28 or as low as 0.96.
The areas with the fastest increasing coronavirus cases were in Maldon (+176% in a week), Southend (+85%) and Braintree (+85%).
Positive tests were increasing in 44 of the 54 districts in the Anglia region in the week to 7 December but cases were falling in Babergh, Corby, East Hertfordshire, Wellingborough, Kettering, Stevenage, Hunthingdonshire, Broadland, East Northamptonshire and Daventry.
All the main counties in the Anglia region are currently in Tier 2 (High) of the government restrictions but there are fears the rising cases may mean a move to tougher Tier 3 (Very High) measures in some areas when they are reviewed on Wednesday.
In Harlow in Essex the number of cases per 100,000 is more than 200 and council leaders have made a direct appeal video to residents to help stop the spread of Covid-19.
The Labour leader of Harlow Council, Cllr Mark Ingall, along with the Conservative Leader of the Opposition, Cllr Andrew Johnson joined forces in the campaign.
In the video they said: "Today we're making a direct appeal to you to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our town.
"Our appeal to you today is about saving people’s lives, protecting the NHS and helping your business or livelihood."
Watch the video from Harlow Council leaders
Weekly total of coronavirus cases in each county in the Anglia region in the week to 7 December
Bedfordshire - 1,301 cases - up 29% compared with the previous week
Cambridgeshire - 919 cases - up 11%
Essex - 4,342 cases - up 52%
Hertfordshire - 1,890 cases - up 30%
Milton Keynes - 566 cases - up 33%
Norfolk - 960 cases - up 17%
Northamptonshire - 1,002 cases - up 3%
Rutland - 42 cases - up 45%
Suffolk - 641 cases - up 29%
Bedfordshire is the three unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire and Luton. Essex includes Southend and Thurrock and Cambridgeshire includes Peterborough
Below is the latest update of the rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for every local authority area in the Anglia region.
The figures, for the seven days to Monday 7 December, are based on tests carried out in laboratories and in the wider community. The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
The list is based on Public Health England data published on Friday 11 December on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard. Data for the most recent four days (8-11 December) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.
The highest rate in the Anglia region is in Basildon with 508.5 cases per 100,000. Huntingdonshire is currently recording the lowest infection rate in the Anglia region with 47.8 cases per 100,000.
Coronavirus cases per 100,000 people in each local authority area of the Anglia region in the week to Monday 7 December (with the previous week in brackets)
Basildon, 508.5, (333.9)Brentwood, 353.2, (193.5)Broxbourne, 327.9, (184.0)Thurrock, 306.9, (202.5)Epping Forest, 302.2, (189.8)Luton, 294.3, (269.9)Southend-on-Sea, 263.2, (142.0)Watford, 240.2, (169.8)Harlow, 221.7, (218.2)Peterborough, 220.0, (205.2)Milton Keynes, 210.1, (157.7)Rochford, 203.7, (140.8)Castle Point, 203.6, (183.7)Northampton, 203.5, (164.7)Aylesbury Vale, 193.0, (118.8)Chelmsford, 192.8, (111.0)Braintree, 192.7, (104.2)South Kesteven, 184.0, (168.5)Hertsmere, 181.1, (147.7)Maldon, 174.0, (63.1)Ipswich, 171.6, (130.0)Dacorum, 155.7, (99.5)Three Rivers, 154.3, (102.9)Harborough, 151.4, (123.7)Central Bedfordshire, 147.2, (86.6)Norwich, 145.8, (106.7)Bedford, 143.7, (104.4)East Hertfordshire, 139.6, (144.2)St Albans, 125.3, (100.4)Great Yarmouth, 123.8, (98.7)Welwyn Hatfield, 119.5, (95.9)Wellingborough, 119.2, (124.2)Fenland, 112.9, (108.0)South Holland, 111.6, (160.0)King’s Lynn and West Norfolk, 108.3, (81.3)South Northamptonshire, 105.8, (98.4)Rutland, 105.2, (72.6)Broadland, 104.8, (126.9)East Northamptonshire, 103.7, (126.9)Corby, 102.5, (103.9)Uttlesford, 101.9, (86.5)South Norfolk, 101.5, (100.8)North Hertfordshire, 100.3, (87.6)Stevenage, 100.2, (118.4)Kettering, 99.2, (115.0)Colchester, 91.9, (85.3)Daventry, 89.6, (112.9)East Cambridgeshire, 86.8, (51.2)Tendring, 85.3, (71.6)Breckland, 82.2, (56.4)Babergh, 80.4, (81.5)Cambridge, 79.3, (60.1)East Suffolk, 70.6, (49.7)North Norfolk, 69.6, (60.1)South Cambridgeshire, 61.0, (50.9)West Suffolk, 57.5, (41.9)Mid Suffolk, 51.0, (43.3)Huntingdonshire, 47.8, (56.8)
The Anglia region consists of the East of England counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk along with Milton Keynes, Rutland and Northamptonshire