Herefordshire's coronavirus infection rate is, for the second week in a row, double what it was a fornight ago.

Despite the doubling infection rate, the data from Public Health England shows some early signs of new cases slowing.

The latest figures, for the seven days to January 9, show the infection rate – the number of new cases per 100,00 people – stands at 378.6 new cases per 100,000 people, higher than 323.1 seven days before and 180.0 a fortnight ago.

The latest rise is because 730 new cases were recorded during the most recent week, more than than the 623 the previous week.

Data for the most recent four days (January 10-13) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 154 (49 per cent) have seen a rise in case rates, 159 (50 per cent) have seen a fall and two are unchanged.

Barking & Dagenham in London continues to have the highest rate in England, with 3,205 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 9 – the equivalent of 1,505.4 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down slightly from 1,634.5 in the seven days to January 2.

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Knowsley in Merseyside has the second highest rate, up from 796.8 to 1,399.3, with 2,111 new cases.

Newham in London is in third place, down very slightly from 1,406.3 to 1,398.3, with 4,938 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data published on January 13 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

Here is the top 20 in the list.

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to January 9; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to January 9; rate of new cases in the seven days to January 2; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to January 2.

  1. Barking and Dagenham, 1505.4, (3205), 1634.5, (3480)
  2. Knowsley, 1399.3, (2111), 796.8, (1202)
  3. Newham, 1398.3, (4938), 1406.3, (4966)
  4. Harlow, 1276.0, (1111), 1460.9, (1272)
  5. Redbridge, 1255.8, (3833), 1501.2, (4582)
  6. Thurrock, 1233.2, (2150), 1565.9, (2730)
  7. Halton, 1212.4, (1569), 874.7, (1132)
  8. Rushmoor, 1191.3, (1127), 1293.9, (1224)
  9. Tendring, 1169.5, (1714), 956.6, (1402)
  10. Enfield, 1149.8, (3838), 1248.7, (4168)
  11. Broxbourne, 1132.8, (1102), 1398.0, (1360)
  12. Gravesham, 1130.6, (1209), 1222.2, (1307)
  13. Bexley, 1126.5, (2797), 1220.0, (3029)
  14. Tower Hamlets, 1114.7, (3620), 1274.2, (4138)
  15. Waltham Forest, 1106.9, (3066), 1144.1, (3169)
  16. Brent, 1101.7, (3633), 1010.7, (3333)
  17. Slough, 1097.4, (1641), 1067.9, (1597)
  18. Isle of Wight, 1092.6, (1549), 933.9, (1324)
  19. Castle Point, 1092.1, (987), 1469.4, (1328)
  20. Ealing, 1091.0, (3729), 969.6, (3314)

Here's how Herefordshire compares to nearby areas.

73. Worcester, 768.6, (778), 540.4, (547)

202. Gloucester, 450.7, (582), 525.8, (679)

203. Shropshire, 450.3, (1455), 337.3, (1090)

221. Forest of Dean, 422.9, (367), 421.7, (366)

241. Herefordshire, 378.6, (730), 323.1, (623)

274. Cheltenham, 315.5, (367), 278.6, (324)

279. Malvern Hills, 299.9, (236), 252.9, (199)