Covid cases rising in 216 places amid fears of 200k Omicron infections a day – is YOURS on the list?

CASES of Covid-19 are rising in 216 places in the UK and this interactive map reveals if your local area is one of them.

Infections of coronavirus are currently at their highest levels since January, when the country was in full national lockdown.

But vaccines have helped reduce the severity of the illness and Brits are currently being urged to come forward for their jab in order to protect against the Omicron variant.

There are fears that cases of the Omicron variant, which is set to become dominant, could reach 200,00-a-day, with cases roughly doubling every two to three days.

In the seven days up to December 10, cases cases fell in 157 areas and the map above shows current infection rates.

South Northamptonshire has the highest rate of infection in the UK, with 864 new cases in the seven days to December 10 - the equivalent of 904.8 per 100,000 people.

This is up from 836.7 in the seven days to December 3, government data shows.

Data from the  also yesterday revealed that Northamptonshire has the highest level of Omicron cases in the UK.

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The genetic research centre tracks Covid variants and details where they are most prevalent with a lag of around two weeks.

Its latest map, using data to December 4, reveals South Northamptonshire was reporting 26 Omicron cases a week, with surrounding areas also hotspots.

🔵 Read our Covid-19 live blog for the latest updates

Government data also shows that Plymouth has the second highest rate of infections up from 769.7 to 875.1, with 2,300 new cases.

Reigate & Banstead in Surrey has the third highest rate, unchanged week-on-week on 873.1, with 1,303 new cases.

Newry, Mourne & Down has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (825.1, down from 840.0); the Isle of Anglesey has the highest rate in Wales (695.6, down from 814.9); and East Ayrshire has the highest rate in Scotland (655.4, up from 608.6).

While these areas have the highest infection rates in the country, there are five places that have seen large week on week increases.

All of the areas are London boroughs, after it emerged that the capital has seen one of the biggest spreads of the Omicron variant.

Southwark has seen a rise from 436.5 to 747.1, whilst over the river towards the East of the city, Hackney & City of London has jumped from 388.5 to 667.7.

Lambeth, in south London has jumped from 479.8 to 753.5 and Islington in North London, has also jumped from 382.5 to 646.9.

Lewisham, in South East London, has jumped from 479.5 to 709.8.

The data from the Wellcome Sanger Institute said that Lewisham had the second highest rate of Omicron cases in the country, with 10 cases a week

Other London boroughs with higher cases include Newham and Barking and Dagenham.

Prof Tim Spector, an epidemiologist, commented: “London cases are really accelerating faster than we have seen previously” - including in the first wave.

He leads the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, which tracks cases of the virus using millions of app users.

Graphs from the study show an acceleration in Covid cases far greater than any other region in England - although the Midlands and South East have the most active cases currently.

Prof Spector told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “In London, where Covid is increasing rapidly, it's far more likely to be Covid than it is to be a cold.

“We’re seeing doubling in the numbers equivalent to what’s being seen elsewhere, every two-and-a-half days, and that really means numbers are going up."

According to the UK Health Security Agency, there has been a total of 5,346 cases of the mutant Omicron variant in Britain.

Health secretary Sajid Javid yesterday told the Commons it's estimated daily Omicron cases could already be nearer 200,000 infections.

Over the weekend NHS England moved to the highest alert level after Omicron cases in the UK skyrocketed.

The decision to move from level 3 to level 4 was made on Sunday after health chiefs indicated that there was substantial pressure on the NHS.

The alert was raised to level four meaning that there is a real threat that the rise in infections could force the closure of other vital health services.

Health Secretary Sajid Javid said the growth of Omicron cases in the UK is "now mirroring the rapid increase we're seeing in South Africa", telling MPs: "The current observed doubling time is around every two days.

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"Although yesterday we reported there were 4,713 confirmed cases of Omicron in the UK, the UKHSA estimates that the number of daily infections was 42 times higher, at 200,000.

"Scientists have never seen a Covid-19 variant that's capable of spreading so rapidly so we have to look at what we can do to slow Omicron's advance."

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