Map shows 25 Covid hotspots on new watchlist
Nine London boroughs are now on a watchlist of UK coronavirus hotspots.
Hackney and Tower Hamlets are ranked sixth and seventh respectively, with both areas recording more than 1,500 new infections in the week ending July 18.
Stockton-on-Tees tops the list of 25 local authority areas compiled by the ZOE Covid Symptom Study after a surge in cases.
The wider North East region is worst hit and gets ‘enhanced response area’ status by the government from Monday.
Lead scientist, King’s College London professor of genetic epidemiology Tim Spector said: ‘Unfortunately, hopes that the current wave of infections had peaked have faded.
‘While Covid is less severe in the young and vaccinated population, it’s definitely not going away anytime soon.
‘As the numbers rise, many of us will not only have our lives disrupted with endless notifications to self-isolate but more people will be affected by long Covid.’
Areas with highest infection rates
East of England: Bedford, Peterborough and Thurrock
London: Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Hounslow, Islington, Lambeth, Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Wandsworth
North East: Darlington, Redcar and Cleveland and Stockton
North West: Liverpool and St Helens
Scotland: Dumfries and Galloway and Falkirk
Yorkshire and The Humber: Barnsley, Bradford, Kingston upon Hull, Leeds, North East Lincolnshire and Rotherham
The areas set to get enhanced support are: Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Stockton on Tees and Sunderland.
The Department for Health said they will receive extra testing and ‘logistical support to maximise vaccine and testing uptake’.
It will last for an initial five weeks.
Stockton’s coronavirus dashboard shows there were 2,352 new cases in the past week, at a rate of 1,192 cases per 100,000 people.
The symptom study estimates a far higher figure of 3,438 cases per 100,000 for the town.
It aims to paint a ‘live’ and ‘real’ picture of Covid using self-reported data from thousands of users on how they are feeling – not only counting people who have tested positive.
Across the UK the study found there have been an average of 62,274 new daily symptomatic cases across the past two weeks.
Of these, 24,790 have received at least one vaccination jab and 37,485 were unvaccinated people.
Official government figures showed 36,389 cases in the past 24 hours.
MORE : Key workers exempted from self-isolation rules ‘must still quarantine at home’
MORE : North East gets extra Covid support to combat wave of infections
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