THE coronavirus infection rate in Herefordshire has risen for the fourth week in a row after more than 100 cases have been found in the most recent seven day period.

The figures, for the seven days to October 18, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

It shows the rolling seven-day rate of new infections and is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent four days (October 19-22) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

The numbers continue to fall in the areas with the highest rates in England.

In Knowsley in Merseyside, 1,000 new cases were recorded in the seven days to October 18 – the equivalent of 662.9 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down from 700.6 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to October 11.

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Nottingham has the second highest rate, but this is down sharply from 926.7 to 610.1, with 2,031 new cases.

Liverpool is in third place, where the rate has dropped from 681.1 to 582.5, with 2,901 new cases.

Case rates have also continued to decrease in the cities of Newcastle, Exeter, Sheffield, Manchester and Oxford.

In Herefordshire, 104 new cases means the coronavirus infection rate is now 53.9, up from 37.9 a week ago. It's the fourth consecutive week in a row where the rate has risen, but it still remains low compared to other areas.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on October 22 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Here is the top 20 areas in the list:

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 18; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 18; rate of new cases in the seven days to October 11; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to October 11.

  1. Knowsley 662.9 (1000), 700.6 (1057)
  2. Nottingham 610.1 (2031), 926.7 (3085)
  3. Liverpool 582.5 (2901), 681.1 (3392)
  4. Blackburn with Darwen 575.8 (862), 446.2 (668)
  5. Rossendale 535.8 (383), 324.6 (232)
  6. Rochdale 503.6 (1120), 429.8 (956)
  7. Salford 493.8 (1278), 390.2 (1010)
  8. Burnley 482.5 (429), 607.3 (540)
  9. Oldham 467.3 (1108), 382.5 (907)
  10. Wigan 459.7 (1511), 407.7 (1340)
  11. Barnsley 454.5 (1122), 279.9 (691)
  12. West Lancashire 451.4 (516), 466.3 (533)
  13. Bolton 441.3 (1269), 335.2 (964)
  14. Sefton 437.8 (1210), 477.2 (1319)
  15. Manchester 437.2 (2417), 474.3 (2622)
  16. St. Helens 436.4 (788), 444.1 (802)
  17. Bury 430.9 (823), 390.6 (746)
  18. Ribble Valley 427.0 (260), 297.3 (181)
  19. Blackpool 420.2 (586), 288.3 (402)
  20. Pendle 419.1 (386), 473.3 (436)

Here's how Herefordshire compares to other nearby areas:

194. Worcester 91.9 (93), 78.0 (79)

206. Shropshire 83.6 (270), 86.3 (279)

223. Gloucester 77.4 (100), 72.0 (93)

227. Malvern Hills 75.0 (59), 76.2 (60

251. Cheltenham 63.6 (74), 67.9 (79)

265. Forest of Dean 57.6 (50), 54.2 (47)

278. Herefordshire 53.9 (104), 37.9 (73)