Coronavirus infection rates were rising in almost half of all local authority areas in England as the country came out of lockdown last week, new data has revealed. 

The latest Public Health England figures show 142 council areas have seen a rise in cases, which could mean more places are plunged into a tier three lockdown before Christmas. 

Rules which state which parts of the country should be subject to tier three restrictions are being reviewed by the Government on December 16. 

London, parts of Essex, Surrey and Hastings in Sussex could all go up a tier after registering big rises in case numbers. 

The latest figures cover the seven days to December 5 and are based on tests carried out in laboratories – pillar one of the Government’s testing programme – and in the wider community, known as pillar two.

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

Data for the most recent four days (December 6-9) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 142 have seen a rise in case rates, 171 have seen a fall, and two are unchanged.

Areas that are already in tier three continue to be the worst affected but there have also been big rises in some tier two places. 

Swale in Kent – which is already in tier three – continues to have the highest rate in England, with 930 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 5 – the equivalent of 619.7 cases per 100,000 people. This is up from 564.4 in the seven days to November 28.

Medway, also in Kent, has the second highest rate, up from 529.2 to 602.4, with 1,678 new cases.

Decisions on who should be moved up or down a tier are based on various factors including the number of new cases, the number of infections among at-risk groups and the amount of stress being placed on the NHS locally.

Based on the number of new infections alone, Basildon in Essex appears to be most at risk of going into tier three. It is now the third worst affected place in England after its rate rose from 302.9 to 433.8, with 812 new cases.

The leader of Basildon Council Gavin Callaghan has blamed the slow roll out of rapid testing kits for the ‘precarious position’ the area finds itself in. 

He said: ‘We agreed to enter into Tier 2 early on the provison that we would be the first for the lateral flow tests, which give results in around 30 minutes.

‘We have been ready to get the ball rolling since October 15, so it is hard to understand why the Government and Essex County Council have taken almost two months to get their house in order.

‘The ECC and government delays, has put Basildon in a precarious position with our infection rate now rising to one of the highest in the country. This never needed to happen.’

A spokesperson for Essex Council Council said it is working quickly to get the ‘complex task’ of setting up testing centres off the ground and is now accepting bookings. 

After Basildon, the areas with the biggest week-on-week jumps are Hastings (up from 70.1 to 199.7, with 185 new cases); Runnymede (up from 161.0 to 284.0, with 254 new cases); and Brentwood in Essex (up from 166.2 to 281.7, with 217 new cases).

There have been several warnings that London will be placed into tier three before Christmas as cases continue to rise in several boroughs. 

But the data shows a mixed picture for the capital. In Havering, cases rose from 287 to 378 per 100,000 with 746 new cases diagnosed. This makes the eastern London borough the ninth worst affected place in England. 

Barking and Dagenham is similarly badly affected with a rise in cases from 256 to 310 per 100,000.

But Richmond in south west London and Westminster have case rates far lower than the England average and both registered slight drops in the past week. Richmond went from 88.9 to 88.4 while Westminster went from 94.9 to 88.8. 

The three areas in tier one continue to be the least affected places and case numbers are dropping further. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly saw an infection rate of just 22.7 while the Isle of Wight has the lowest rate in England with 16.2. 

Places in tier three which may move down a tier next week include Bristol, where cases fell from 176.7 to 126.7, and Gateshead which registered a steep drop in cases from 152.4 to 92.1. 

Liverpool, formerly the worst affected place in England now has an infection rate of 88 per 100,000 and appears to be over the worst of the outbreak. 

Top 20 worst affected Covid-19 areas

The list is based on Public Health England data published on December 7 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to December 5; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to December 5; rate of new cases in the seven days to November 28; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to November 28.

Swale, 619.7, (930), 564.4, (847) 
Medway, 602.4, (1,678), 529.2, (1,474) 
Basildon, 433.8, (812), 302.9, (567) 
Gravesham, 423.6, (453), 385.3, (412) 
Thanet, 419.9, (596), 464.3, (659) 
Maidstone, 409.1, (703), 359.7, (618) 
Lincoln, 391.7, (389), 388.7, (386) 
Boston, 387.6, (272), 550.1, (386) 
Havering, 378.7, (983), 287.4, (746) 
Dover, 371.6, (439), 313.2, (370) 
Canterbury, 323.5, (535), 252.7, (418) 
Stoke-on-Trent, 321.8, (825), 364.7, (935) 
Waltham Forest, 316.6, (877), 205.8, (570) 
Barking and Dagenham, 310.9, (662), 256.0, (545) 
Oadby and Wigston, 301.7, (172), 315.7, (180) 
Redbridge, 299.1, (913), 305.7, (933) 
Folkestone and Hythe, 299.1, (338), 212.4, (240) 
Dartford, 291.3, (328), 238.9, (269) 
Luton, 290.1, (618), 261.0, (556) 
Pendle, 286.6, (264), 279.0, (257) 

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