How to find out total number of Covid cases close to you

CHECKER SHOWS INFECTION RATE WITHIN A MILE OF YOUR HOME

WITH decisions expected to be made soon on what happens after the national lockdown ends in just under two weeks, close attention will be paid to how many people have the coronavirus and where they live.

An NHS postcode checker lets people see exactly how many new cases have been confirmed, and what the latest seven-day infection rate is within one mile of their own front door.

The dashboard prompts people to enter their details and set the radius, allowing them to access data at a more local level than anywhere else.

Seven-day rates and cases are updated online every day by Public Health England, but they are broken down into district and borough areas, giving a wider view of the situation.

The NHS checker allows people to see rates in their ‘medium super output area’ - smaller areas with an average population of around 7,000 people.

Having access to these neighbourhood-level figures helps public authorities monitor trends and the spread of the virus.

The data will give people a better understanding of what is happening where they live.

The number of ‘telephone triages’ in an area – clinical assessments by NHS 111 of people with potential coronavirus symptoms – is also displayed.

Graphs and maps show how the virus is spreading and display a weekby-week update on cases and infection rates.

It also allows people to look at rates within a ten-mile radius of where they live.

Cases and rates across the county have continued to rise in the past week with a big spike on Monday due to a change in the way numbers are counted.

Since then, daily updates have stabilised, but they remain high with public health bosses warning Leicester and Leicestershire could be placed in tiers with higher restrictions if rates do not reduce.

Hospital admissions also reached a crucial point last week with hospital bosses revealing there are more patients with the virus being treated now than in April at the first peak in the pandemic.

■ To use the NHS Digital postcode checker, visit: