Kent district is country’s Covid hotspot

SWALE, in Kent, still has the highest rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 of any local authority area in England.

The figures are for the seven days to November 22 and the rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

A majority of areas in England (283 out of 315) have seen a fall in case rates.

Swale – which will go into Tier 3 next week had 799 new cases recorded in the seven days to November 22 - the equivalent of 532.4 cases per 100,000 people. This is down from 637.7 in the seven days to November 15.

The North East authority with the highest rate is South Tyneside, which ranks 28th with 336 cases per 100,000 people, down from 412 the week before. Newcastle is 48th with a rate of 301, down from 439. Gateshead is 62nd with a rate of 276, down from 396. Sunderland is 63rd on 276, down from 399. North Tyneside is 65th on 274, down from 421. County Durham is 68th with 270, down from 385.