18 January 2024 , 18:28
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The Covid rates in every region of England have been mapped out - see how your local area is doing.
Approaching this winter, there was some concern over the emergence of various variants and subvariants of the virus. Alongside that, with colder weather and more socialising indoors the conditions were ideal for a virus to spread.
As such, a wave akin to what the country saw in October wasn't out of the question. But despite that, this winter has seen a relatively small wave of Covid cases that already seem to be falling away.
In October, the seven day rolling average of positive cases tipped 2,000, but over last month it only just managed to get above 1,300. Rates remain relatively low for this time of year - with last winter seeing well over 5,000 cases for the rolling seven day average.
This is even in spite of the emergence of the highly mutated Juno subvariant. Whilst becoming the most dominant strain in the UK, it hasn’t led to a surge in cases. But even with cases low, Covid is still a potentially deadly virus that as recently as last month took the lives of two young children according to provisional data.
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And for those who are immunocompromised, the virus poses an even bigger threat too. But, in the seven days leading up to January 17, there were 4,337 new cases according to data from the UK Health Security Agency.
Now cases have been mapped by the Mirror, showing the state of play across the country. In general, in the South East and East of England, cases remain the lowest. There are a few outliers including in Tendring on the east coast, and Hillingdon, in London.
The south west seemingly has higher case rates, especially in South Hames and South Somerset. Moving northwards, the west-east split seems to hold with areas in the east of the country having marginally lower rates than those in the west. In the North West, Allerdale and Barrow-in-Furness had amongst the higher rates in the region as well.
Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Public Health Programmes at UKHSA, said: "This week there has been a slight increase in flu levels but a continued decrease in COVID-19 rates. Remember, flu and COVID-19 spread more easily during the colder months as we spend more time indoors. If you are showing symptoms of a respiratory illness, try to reduce your contact with others, especially those who are vulnerable.
“It is less than two weeks until this season’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign closes. If you are eligible, you can still get vaccinated for flu and COVID-19. Some local pharmacies continue to offer flu and walk-in COVID-19 vaccinations for free on the NHS. Children aged 2 or 3 years can receive a quick and painless nasal spray flu vaccine from their GP to help protect them against flu.”