Politics
Covid cases rising in 270 places amid fears Omicron is ‘doubling every two days’
CORONAVIRUS cases are still rising in 270 places in the UK, as experts warn the Omicron variant could cause a surge in infections.
This interactive map shows the infections in your local area and whether or not you could be in a hotspot.
Cases are rising in 270 areas as of the seven days to December 2 and the map above shows current infection rates.
While Delta is still the dominant strain in the UK, Omicron, which was first detected in South Africa is now gathering speed.
To date, 336 cases have been recorded in the UK and health secretary Sajid Javid warned that cases of the mutant bug are doubling every three days.
He said the new variant is known to be spreading in the community and could “knock us off our road to recovery”.
The true figure of Omicron infections is more like 1,000 to 2,000, according to Prof Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and lead of the Covid outbreak tracking study ZOE.
He said that there could be many people in the community who do not know they have the virus if it is causing more mild disease, as some early data from South Africa indicates.
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Prof Spector suggested that cases of the virus are actually doubling every two days.
He explained: “We are expecting this to be doubling about every two days at the moment, so if you do your maths – assume it’s 1,000 at the moment, and you think it’s going to be doubling every two days, you can see that those numbers are going to be pretty (high) certainly in about 10 days’ time.
“By that time, we’ll probably have more cases than they will in some of those African countries.
Read our Omicron variant live blog for the latest news
“So I think these travel restrictions do perhaps have their place initially, when cases are really low here and really high in the other country, but when we reach that equilibrium, there’s very little point in having them in my opinion.”
Others have also warned that cases could peak at 90,000 a day by Christmas and that Omicron could become the dominant variant within the next month.
But as infections of Omicron are continuing to surge, many local areas are already dealing with high case loads.
Torridge in Devon continues to have the highest rate in the UK, with 693 new cases in the seven days to December 2 – the equivalent of 1,008.5 per 100,000 people.
This is down from 1,073.9 in the seven days to November 25.
North Devon has the second highest rate, down from 900.5 to 853.6, with 838 new cases.
Gwynedd in Wales has the third highest rate, down slightly from 846.8 to 842.0, with 1,054 new cases.
The 270 places where Covid cases are rising
Cases per 100,000 in the seven days up to December 2. The figure on the RIGHT shows infections, also per 100,000, in the seven days up to November 25.
Ashford, South-east England, 837.3, (1097), 657.2, (861)
South Hams, South-west England, 832.3, (732), 608.3, (535)
Reigate and Banstead, South-east England, 826.8, (1234), 670.0, (1000)
Waverley, South-east England, 824.1, (1043), 734.9, (930)
Newry Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland, 822.4, (1494), 601.1, (1092)
South Northamptonshire, East Midlands, 815.8, (779), 554.0, (529)
Lewes, South-east England, 814.3, (843), 658.8, (682)
Tandridge, South-east England, 807.5, (715), 777.0, (688)
Hastings, South-east England, 806.0, (746), 726.1, (672)
Eastleigh, South-east England, 799.9, (1084), 691.4, (937)
Teignbridge, South-west England, 791.6, (1069), 746.5, (1008)
Gloucester, South-west England, 784.8, (1018), 603.7, (783)
Hart, South-east England, 781.7, (763), 604.5, (590)
Plymouth, South-west England, 765.9, (2013), 622.4, (1636)
Mole Valley, South-east England, 755.0, (661), 721.9, (632)
Cherwell, South-east England, 754.7, (1146), 609.8, (926)
Antrim and Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, 738.8, (1062), 697.0, (1002)
Crawley, South-east England, 737.9, (830), 716.6, (806)
Isle of Anglesey, Wales, 734.0, (517), 624.6, (440)
Spelthorne, South-east England, 729.9, (729), 681.9, (681)
Southend-on-Sea, Eastern England, 724.9, (1325), 563.5, (1030)
South Oxfordshire, South-east England, 724.7, (1042), 625.9, (900)
Rutland, East Midlands, 723.9, (293), 654.7, (265)
Tunbridge Wells, South-east England, 723.1, (860), 616.3, (733)
Portsmouth, South-east England, 720.1, (1546), 522.1, (1121)
Castle Point, Eastern England, 716.9, (649), 543.5, (492)
Torbay, South-west England, 715.0, (974), 610.8, (832)
South Cambridgeshire, Eastern England, 706.0, (1136), 603.5, (971)
Lisburn and Castlereagh, Northern Ireland, 704.0, (1031), 596.1, (873)
West Devon, South-west England, 698.3, (392), 452.4, (254)
Central Bedfordshire, Eastern England, 693.0, (2038), 547.4, (1610)
Brentwood, Eastern England, 691.3, (534), 492.0, (380)
Surrey Heath, South-east England, 680.5, (607), 612.1, (546)
Basildon, Eastern England, 679.8, (1275), 557.2, (1045)
Huntingdonshire, Eastern England, 678.3, (1214), 585.5, (1048)
Wokingham, South-east England, 677.8, (1179), 651.4, (1133)
Harborough, East Midlands, 674.1, (644), 528.6, (505)
Fareham, South-east England, 672.2, (782), 578.5, (673)
Wealden, South-east England, 669.8, (1090), 597.9, (973)
Havant, South-east England, 669.6, (846), 552.5, (698)
Richmond upon Thames, London, 668.7, (1325), 647.5, (1283)
Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, South-west England, 668.3, (2653), 607.3, (2411)
West Oxfordshire, South-east England, 664.8, (743), 531.5, (594)
Ards and North Down, Northern Ireland, 664.6, (1077), 618.9, (1003)
Chichester, South-east England, 660.9, (803), 589.3, (716)
Milton Keynes, South-east England, 659.9, (1783), 523.7, (1415)
Maldon, Eastern England, 657.5, (430), 640.7, (419)
Rushmoor, South-east England, 656.9, (620), 598.6, (565)
Tamworth, West Midlands, 650.5, (500), 620.6, (477)
Vale of White Horse, South-east England, 646.8, (892), 498.2, (687)
Tonbridge and Malling, South-east England, 646.4, (857), 532.5, (706)
Gosport, South-east England, 646.0, (547), 511.3, (433)
Sutton, London, 643.7, (1337), 523.3, (1087)
Rochford, Eastern England, 643.6, (564), 538.6, (472)
Windsor and Maidenhead, South-east England, 641.2, (970), 600.2, (908)
Maidstone, South-east England, 640.6, (1109), 496.7, (860)
Woking, South-east England, 638.9, (639), 623.0, (623)
Exeter, South-west England, 633.8, (845), 528.8, (705)
Chelmsford, Eastern England, 631.6, (1134), 502.4, (902)
Rother, South-east England, 627.6, (607), 554.2, (536)
Gedling, East Midlands, 627.5, (742), 553.1, (654)
West Berkshire, South-east England, 626.0, (992), 548.4, (869)
Harlow, Eastern England, 625.6, (546), 524.7, (458)
Belfast, Northern Ireland, 623.8, (2137), 573.6, (1965)
North East Lincolnshire, Yorkshire & the Humber, 623.1, (993), 518.3, (826)
Medway, South-east England, 622.3, (1737), 512.6, (1431)
South Gloucestershire, South-west England, 619.8, (1784), 526.4, (1515)
Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon, Northern Ireland, 617.8, (1342), 559.8, (1216)
Tewkesbury, South-west England, 616.8, (596), 537.1, (519)
Colchester, Eastern England, 616.6, (1216), 519.8, (1025)
Swale, South-east England, 615.8, (930), 568.8, (859)
Thurrock, Eastern England, 614.1, (1078), 547.5, (961)
Winchester, South-east England, 613.1, (772), 542.4, (683)
Brighton and Hove, South-east England, 612.9, (1788), 545.0, (1590)
Epsom and Ewell, South-east England, 608.6, (493), 530.8, (430)
Falkirk, Scotland, 608.5, (977), 574.9, (923)
Braintree, Eastern England, 607.5, (930), 542.8, (831)
Cambridge, Eastern England, 601.3, (752), 529.3, (662)
East Northamptonshire, East Midlands, 600.4, (571), 543.6, (517)
Sevenoaks, South-east England, 599.7, (728), 533.0, (647)
Buckinghamshire, South-east England, 599.6, (3280), 563.9, (3085)
Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland, 597.4, (701), 530.9, (623)
Bridgend, Wales, 595.1, (878), 441.2, (651)
Reading, South-east England, 595.0, (954), 543.2, (871)
Pembrokeshire, Wales, 594.1, (753), 529.4, (671)
Dorset, South-west England, 593.5, (2254), 582.7, (2213)
Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, South-west England, 585.4, (3369), 491.9, (2831)
New Forest, South-east England, 582.2, (1046), 562.2, (1010)
East Ayrshire, Scotland, 575.7, (700), 373.4, (454)
St Albans, Eastern England, 574.6, (858), 490.9, (733)
East Cambridgeshire, Eastern England, 574.5, (518), 486.8, (439)
Runnymede, South-east England, 571.3, (516), 508.2, (459)
Wellingborough, East Midlands, 569.4, (456), 518.2, (415)
Gravesham, South-east England, 568.8, (608), 489.3, (523)
Erewash, East Midlands, 567.1, (654), 493.4, (569)
Canterbury, South-east England, 563.7, (940), 481.5, (803)
Worthing, South-east England, 559.9, (620), 511.2, (566)
Folkestone and Hythe, South-east England, 559.5, (634), 399.8, (453)
Bracknell Forest, South-east England, 556.5, (691), 507.4, (630)
Wrexham, Wales, 552.7, (752), 498.3, (678)
Kingston upon Thames, London, 552.6, (990), 478.9, (858)
Stratford-on-Avon, West Midlands, 549.8, (728), 524.9, (695)
South Derbyshire, East Midlands, 545.1, (597), 487.6, (534)
East Devon, South-west England, 545.0, (807), 510.5, (756)
Bromley, London, 542.4, (1805), 432.8, (1440)
Cheshire West and Chester, North-west England, 541.3, (1861), 506.7, (1742)
Cotswold, South-west England, 540.6, (488), 423.2, (382)
Dartford, South-east England, 539.2, (615), 407.7, (465)
Daventry, East Midlands, 538.2, (468), 411.7, (358)
Warrington, North-west England, 536.3, (1123), 431.2, (903)
Adur, South-east England, 535.9, (344), 405.1, (260)
Shropshire, West Midlands, 535.3, (1742), 514.7, (1675)
Three Rivers, Eastern England, 534.2, (502), 511.9, (481)
North Kesteven, East Midlands, 531.5, (628), 423.2, (500)
Tendring, Eastern England, 531.4, (783), 453.3, (668)
West Suffolk, Eastern England, 528.5, (937), 487.3, (864)
Forest of Dean, South-west England, 528.1, (460), 392.6, (342)
Bedford, Eastern England, 527.8, (922), 461.4, (806)
Broxtowe, East Midlands, 526.9, (604), 457.1, (524)
North West Leicestershire, East Midlands, 524.8, (550), 442.7, (464)
Basingstoke and Deane, South-east England, 524.3, (932), 427.0, (759)
Dacorum, Eastern England, 522.3, (812), 423.9, (659)
Hammersmith and Fulham, London, 520.3, (955), 411.3, (755)
Flintshire, Wales, 520.3, (816), 483.3, (758)
Babergh, Eastern England, 516.5, (479), 380.7, (353)
Boston, East Midlands, 512.4, (363), 422.1, (299)
South Somerset, South-west England, 512.2, (864), 507.4, (856)
Dover, South-east England, 511.3, (606), 498.7, (591)
Stoke-on-Trent, West Midlands, 510.9, (1311), 447.0, (1147)
Blaenau Gwent, Wales, 508.4, (356), 411.3, (288)
Merton, London, 506.7, (1046), 458.7, (947)
Bexley, London, 506.2, (1262), 379.5, (946)
Wandsworth, London, 506.2, (1669), 490.7, (1618)
Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland, 505.6, (764), 472.5, (714)
Epping Forest, Eastern England, 505.4, (668), 416.9, (551)
Havering, London, 502.2, (1309), 394.8, (1029)
South Staffordshire, West Midlands, 501.0, (563), 425.4, (478)
Richmondshire, Yorkshire & the Humber, 500.6, (269), 489.5, (263)
Chorley, North-west England, 499.7, (594), 429.9, (511)
Newport, Wales, 497.3, (778), 450.0, (704)
Blaby, East Midlands, 495.3, (505), 462.0, (471)
Hull, Yorkshire & the Humber, 494.7, (1282), 471.6, (1222)
Peterborough, Eastern England, 494.0, (1001), 450.6, (913)
Cardiff, Wales, 490.0, (1809), 477.5, (1763)
Thanet, South-east England, 489.2, (692), 485.7, (687)
Bromsgrove, West Midlands, 488.2, (491), 478.3, (481)
Luton, Eastern England, 485.7, (1037), 444.9, (950)
North Warwickshire, West Midlands, 484.3, (317), 481.3, (315)
Solihull, West Midlands, 484.2, (1053), 443.2, (964)
East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, 481.8, (524), 401.8, (437)
Waltham Forest, London, 479.5, (1328), 372.3, (1031)
Rugby, West Midlands, 476.3, (527), 398.6, (441)
Ribble Valley, North-west England, 475.6, (295), 449.8, (279)
Greenwich, London, 475.0, (1373), 308.3, (891)
Chesterfield, East Midlands, 473.6, (497), 456.5, (479)
Cheshire East, North-west England, 473.5, (1831), 389.2, (1505)
Monmouthshire, Wales, 472.9, (450), 459.2, (437)
Stafford, West Midlands, 472.2, (651), 409.1, (564)
Watford, Eastern England, 468.8, (453), 444.0, (429)
Caerphilly, Wales, 466.1, (847), 438.6, (797)
North Somerset, South-west England, 464.3, (1001), 437.9, (944)
Lambeth, London, 462.4, (1488), 321.0, (1033)
Hertsmere, Eastern England, 461.7, (487), 456.0, (481)
Trafford, North-west England, 458.4, (1089), 426.8, (1014)
Derby, East Midlands, 457.9, (1176), 403.8, (1037)
Northampton, East Midlands, 457.9, (1027), 391.9, (879)
Slough, South-east England, 455.3, (681), 415.8, (622)
Uttlesford, Eastern England, 454.9, (422), 369.8, (343)
Kensington and Chelsea, London, 453.9, (712), 379.3, (595)
Oxford, South-east England, 449.9, (682), 428.1, (649)
North East Derbyshire, East Midlands, 449.0, (459), 413.8, (423)
Lewisham, London, 447.7, (1367), 316.4, (966)
West Lindsey, East Midlands, 447.1, (430), 366.0, (352)
Hounslow, London, 445.6, (1211), 402.6, (1094)
Sedgemoor, South-west England, 445.5, (550), 419.6, (518)
Stroud, South-west England, 444.2, (537), 368.9, (446)
Powys, Wales, 443.5, (590), 432.2, (575)
Lincoln, East Midlands, 442.8, (443), 427.8, (428)
Croydon, London, 439.8, (1709), 360.3, (1400)
Derbyshire Dales, East Midlands, 439.1, (318), 400.4, (290)
Warwick, West Midlands, 438.9, (636), 371.3, (538)
Broadland, Eastern England, 438.9, (579), 363.8, (480)
Denbighshire, Wales, 438.6, (424), 428.3, (414)
Ealing, London, 436.3, (1485), 406.1, (1382)
Mansfield, East Midlands, 435.3, (476), 393.2, (430)
Amber Valley, East Midlands, 434.7, (560), 381.1, (491)
St. Helens, North-west England, 434.0, (786), 389.9, (706)
Redbridge, London, 432.8, (1323), 330.1, (1009)
Fife, Scotland, 430.1, (1609), 391.6, (1465)
Wigan, North-west England, 429.7, (1421), 399.4, (1321)
Barnet, London, 429.6, (1714), 380.9, (1520)
Wyre Forest, West Midlands, 429.1, (434), 370.8, (375)
Cannock Chase, West Midlands, 427.7, (434), 403.0, (409)
North Lincolnshire, Yorkshire & the Humber, 423.2, (731), 374.0, (646)
Halton, North-west England, 420.0, (545), 403.1, (523)
Tameside, North-west England, 418.7, (951), 383.1, (870)
Stockport, North-west England, 418.1, (1230), 388.5, (1143)
Southwark, London, 417.2, (1335), 287.5, (920)
West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, 416.6, (368), 332.8, (294)
East Lothian, Scotland, 416.1, (449), 394.8, (426)
Nottingham, East Midlands, 415.6, (1401), 354.5, (1195)
West Lothian, Scotland, 414.5, (762), 319.3, (587)
Bury, North-west England, 413.7, (789), 398.5, (760)
Swansea, Wales, 412.1, (1016), 391.8, (966)
Sefton, North-west England, 411.7, (1136), 397.2, (1096)
Mid Suffolk, Eastern England, 411.0, (431), 354.8, (372)
Breckland, Eastern England, 410.6, (580), 358.9, (507)
Redcar and Cleveland, North-east England, 410.3, (563), 408.8, (561)
Knowsley, North-west England, 408.0, (622), 400.1, (610)
Bristol, South-west England, 407.6, (1899), 378.0, (1761)
Great Yarmouth, Eastern England, 405.3, (402), 345.8, (343)
Stockton-on-Tees, North-east England, 404.2, (798), 371.8, (734)
North Lanarkshire, Scotland, 403.9, (1378), 344.1, (1174)
North Norfolk, Eastern England, 403.2, (424), 358.5, (377)
Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, 400.6, (969), 392.8, (950)
South Holland, East Midlands, 399.6, (383), 364.1, (349)
Copeland, North-west England, 395.3, (269), 232.2, (158)
Liverpool, North-west England, 395.0, (1977), 327.9, (1641)
Barnsley, Yorkshire & the Humber, 394.6, (979), 375.3, (931)
Eden, North-west England, 392.5, (211), 323.7, (174)
Bath and North East Somerset, South-west England, 392.1, (770), 382.5, (751)
Newcastle upon Tyne, North-east England, 391.4, (1201), 380.7, (1168)
Herefordshire, West Midlands, 391.0, (757), 342.9, (664)
Broxbourne, Eastern England, 388.4, (379), 373.0, (364)
Hillingdon, London, 385.1, (1190), 377.3, (1166)
South Lanarkshire, Scotland, 384.0, (1232), 296.1, (950)
Inverclyde, Scotland, 381.5, (294), 333.5, (257)
South Ayrshire, Scotland, 380.8, (427), 275.5, (309)
York, Yorkshire & the Humber, 375.8, (793), 344.5, (727)
Neath Port Talbot, Wales, 371.9, (537), 366.4, (529)
Doncaster, Yorkshire & the Humber, 371.2, (1161), 351.4, (1099)
East Lindsey, East Midlands, 371.0, (527), 273.2, (388)
Haringey, London, 370.6, (987), 365.7, (974)
Harrow, London, 368.9, (931), 322.2, (813)
Barking and Dagenham, London, 368.0, (788), 266.2, (570)
Hackney and City of London, London, 366.6, (1070), 268.9, (785)
Islington, London, 365.6, (907), 268.0, (665)
Ipswich, Eastern England, 364.0, (495), 319.9, (435)
Norwich, Eastern England, 363.6, (517), 311.6, (443)
Camden, London, 356.7, (997), 266.2, (744)
Fenland, Eastern England, 351.7, (359), 349.7, (357)
Tower Hamlets, London, 347.9, (1155), 262.7, (872)
Lancaster, North-west England, 347.7, (515), 323.4, (479)
Enfield, London, 347.4, (1159), 280.6, (936)
Brent, London, 347.2, (1138), 323.4, (1060)
Blackburn with Darwen, North-west England, 343.3, (515), 306.6, (460)
Newham, London, 338.1, (1201), 244.3, (868)
Hartlepool, North-east England, 332.5, (312), 298.4, (280)
City of Edinburgh, Scotland, 331.7, (1750), 321.1, (1694)
Leeds, Yorkshire & the Humber, 325.9, (2603), 301.1, (2405)
Westminster, London, 325.7, (879), 268.3, (724)
Manchester, North-west England, 324.6, (1804), 320.1, (1779)
Midlothian, Scotland, 324.2, (302), 279.1, (260)
Middlesbrough, North-east England, 321.3, (454), 304.3, (430)
Oldham, North-west England, 318.6, (757), 305.9, (727)
South Norfolk, Eastern England, 314.5, (450), 294.3, (421)
Preston, North-west England, 313.6, (452), 301.8, (435)
North Ayrshire, Scotland, 312.1, (419), 272.6, (366)
Renfrewshire, Scotland, 307.2, (551), 301.6, (541)
Somerset West and Taunton, South-west England, 303.7, (472), 274.7, (427)
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, Scotland, 301.9, (80), 132.1, (35)
Calderdale, Yorkshire & the Humber, 299.4, (633), 271.5, (574)
Coventry, West Midlands, 296.8, (1126), 292.3, (1109)
Sheffield, Yorkshire & the Humber, 293.3, (1728), 288.7, (1701)
South Lakeland, North-west England, 287.9, (302), 277.4, (291)
Bradford, Yorkshire & the Humber, 281.7, (1527), 264.0, (1431)
Glasgow City, Scotland, 280.8, (1785), 247.6, (1574)
Pendle, North-west England, 275.7, (254), 256.1, (236)
Ceredigion, Wales, 249.7, (182), 237.3, (173)
Carlisle, North-west England, 242.3, (263), 224.8, (244)
Newry, Mourne & Down has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (822.4, up from 601.1) and Falkirk has the highest rate in Scotland (608.5, up from 574.9).
While these places have the most infections, there are also five areas that have witnessed a big jump in case loads.
South Northamptonshire has witnessed an increase, going from 554.0 per 100,000 to 815.8.
Extra testing has been rolled out in the area after more cases of Omicron were confirmed there.
So far 13 cases have been reported in the area and health chiefs have said that there are ‘probably more’.
West Devon has also seen a surge, jumping from 452.4 to 698.3 and cases have also spiked in South Hams, going from 608.3 to 832.3.
Newry, Mourne & Down has increased from 601.1 to 822.4 and East Ayrshire has also seen a rise, going from 373.4 to 575.7.
Another 90 Omicron cases were last night announced in the UK as the country’s case total soared above 50,000 for the third time in ten days.
Yesterday’s 51,459 cases marked a 20.8 per cent week-on-week rise – after 42,583 cases were recorded last Monday.
The map above shows where coronavirus cases have risen the most in the last five days
