Coronavirus infections have risen in ten areas of England, just days after it was reported they were going down across the entire country.
According to the latest NHS data, a number of places mostly in Yorkshire and the North East had a higher number of confirmed Covid cases on 21 January than they did seven days previously.
Barnsley has seen the sharpest rise with a 24% increase in cases, followed by Bradford (15%) and Wakefield (12%).
These most recent figures are for the seven-day rolling average up to January 21, and the decrease is a comparison with the seven-day rolling average to the previous day.
The 10 areas of England where Covid cases have risen again
- Barnsley 24% (265.5 cases per 100,000 people)
- Bradford 15% (301.4)
- Wakefield 12% (262.1)
- Middlesborough 8% (485.9)
- Calderdale 6% (223.2)
- Rotherham 5% (283.3)
- Redcar and Cleveland 4% (406.9)
- Leicester 3% (548.8)
- Northumberland 2% (247.2)
- Kirklees 1% (251.7)
The data show some areas of the country are seeing a reversal in the downward trend in cases seen since the third national lockdown was imposed at the beginning of January.
Just a week ago, all 151 areas listed on the NHS Digital Covid dashboard reported a fall in rolling seven-day totals.
At a regional level, the news is still encouraging – cases continue to decrease across England.
- London -31% (505.2)
- South-East -28% (373.7)
- South-West -27% (254.0)
- East -26% (401.1)
- North West -24% (414.6)
- West Midlands -14% (489.5)
- East Midlands -10% (367.3)
- Yorkshire and The Humber -8% (243.4)
- North East. -7% (309.1)
The news comes as Matt Hancock warned the government is a “long, long, long way” from being able to lift coronavirus lockdown restrictions in England.
The health secretary said there was evidence that restrictions in place were having an impact while the vaccination programme was making “brilliant progress”.
Three quarters of all those over 80 in the UK had now been vaccinated, with a similar number of those in care homes, he said.
However, Hancock said that case numbers were “incredibly high” and the NHS remained under intense pressure, PA Media reports.