Herefordshire, East Staffordshire & Peterborough among top 10 areas for Covid-19

Credit: PA Images

Herefordshire, East Staffordshire and Peterborough have been ranked among the top 10 local authorities that have the highest rates of coronavirus.

The figures are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

Herefordshire is ranked 4th on the list - the infection rate there has increased from 3.1 to 43.2 in the seven days to July 13.

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

It's after a local outbreak of cases was discovered among workers at a vegetable producer near Worcester.

A S Green & Co at Rook Row Farm in Mathon Credit: PA Images

Around 73 positive cases of the virus were confirmed at AS Green and Co, which is based in the village of Mathon.

The council said it is arranging food and essential supplies for residents on the site – who carry out packing and picking work – while they self-isolate.

East Staffordshire is ranked 9th on the list - the infection rate there has increased from 7.6 to 28.7 cases per 100,000 population.

Staffordshire County Council say 35 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in and around two areas of Burton since lockdown measures were eased on July 4th.

They say there are currently no plans for local lockdown measures to be implemented.

Peterborough is ranked 8th on the list - the infection rate there has increased from 21.4 to 29.3 in the seven days to July 13.

Peterborough city centre Credit: ITV Anglia

The council has opened a new testing facility at the Gladstone Park Community Centre to make it easier for people to get checked. 

  • ITV's Rob Setchell spoke to Councillor Wayne Fitzgerald, Peterborough City Council's Deputy Leader, about the area's increased rate:

The top 20 local authorities with the highest rates of coronavirus (rates of new cases in the seven days to July 13 are followed by the equivalent figure for the previous seven days):

1. Leicester 99.7, 126.7

2. Pendle 65.6, 28.4

3. Blackburn with Darwen 48.3, 36.3

4. Herefordshire 43.2, 3.1

5. Bradford 35.4, 36.7

6. Oadby and Wigston 31.5, 36.8

7. Rochdale 30.0, 35.9

8. Peterborough 29.3, 21.4

9. East Staffordshire 28.7, 7.6

10. Luton 27.6, 14.9

11. Kirklees 27.1, 34.4

12. Kettering 24.7, 15.8

13. Braintree 23.8, 4.0

14. Calderdale 20.9, 11.4

15. Northampton 20.9, 23.1

16. Eastbourne 20.4, 10.7

17. Wakefield 20.0, 14.8

18. Rotherham 19.3, 17.4

19. Dartford 16.4, 12.8

20. Carlisle 15.7, 24.9

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know