Covid cluster in North West at centre of Delta epidemic as cases spread – is your area on the hotspot list?

A COVID cluster in the North West is spreading across the region as cases of the Delta variant continue to rise.

The interactive map below reveals if your area is a Covid hotspot after the government introduced extra measures across the region.

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Yesterday people in Cheshire, Warrington and Liverpool were told to minimise travel as cases continue to rise in these areas.

They join Brits living in Manchester and Lancashire, where more testing and a surge in vaccines has been rolled out to combat the spread of the Delta variant.

Boris Johnson yesterday revealed that the June 21 "Freedom Day" would be pushed back by four weeks.

Addressing the nation, he was backed by England's chief medical officer, Professor Chris Whitty, who revealed a shocking graph that showed a sharp rise in cases in the Delta variant in the North West.

Prof Whitty explained: "There has been a 64 per cent increase since last week and in terms of the North West and a 64 per cent increase in England and that rate will follow where the North West has led."

He explained numbers are still relatively low, but in just two weeks the spread could "take off rapidly".

Of the 315 local areas in England, 283 (90 per cent) have seen a rise in rates, 26 (8 per cent) have seen a fall and six are unchanged, data suggests.

The top 20 most infected areas in the UK are all in the North West, data from Public Health England shows.

Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire continues to have the highest rate in the country, with 897 new cases in the seven days to June 10 - the equivalent of 599.2 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 548.4 in the seven days to June 3.

Ribble Valley in Lancashire has the second highest rate, up from 221.7 to 458.2, with 279 new cases.

Hyndburn - also in Lancashire - has the third highest, up from 264.1 to 410.9, with 333 new cases.

Other areas such as Pendle and South Ribble have also seen a sharp uptick in cases in the last week and infections have also spread to surrounding areas.

In the last week Manchester has jumped from 210.0 cases per 100,000 to 300.4 and Preston has also jumped from 182.3 to 276.7.

At first cases of the Delta variant had dominated in Bolton and Blackburn, but they have now spread to other areas of the region such as Cheshire, where in the last seven days, cases have jumped from 90.8 per 100,000 to 134.3.

The spread has meant that the North West is currently the most infected region in the country.

REGIONAL BREAKDOWN

Looking at data from the government dashboard and it's clear that the impact of the spread in the North West is making a difference on the number of people being admitted to hospital.

Although this is small due to the fact that many people are protected from severe infection due to vaccines.

In the North West 2,262 people are testing positive for Covid each day - with 57 people a day being admitted to hospital with the virus.

This is close to seven times the number of infections currently being seen in the East of England, where 344 people are testing positive each day and just nine a day are being admitted to hospital.

In London, 778 people are testing positive each day, with 27 being admitted to hospital on a daily basis.

In Yorkshire and the Humber, 635 people are testing positive each day. Hospital data for the region is combined with the North East and between the two places, just 12 people are being admitted to hospital with Covid each day.

The South East is next where 607 people are testing positive each day and five people are being admitted to hospital,

In the West Midlands, 536 people are testing positive each day. Hospital data for the whole of the Midlands is combined and each day 22 people across the region are being admitted to hospital with Covid.

Daily infections in the South West are at 503, with five hospitalisation each day.

In the North East 413 people are testing positive each day and in the East Midlands 400 people are testing positive each day.

The PM yesterday told ministers stage four of his roadmap to freedom must be held back after he was presented with a paper on a potential worst-case scenario for the coming weeks.

The document revealed that a summer wave of infections, hospitalisations and deaths is “likely” - whether or not restrictions are lifted.

Surging cases in the UK are being driven by the mutant Indian - or Delta - variant, which has become the country's dominant strain in a matter of weeks.

And scientists have warned the potential peak death rate could be reduced from 700 to 500 a day if the final stage in unlocking is delayed.