The parts of the UK worst affected by coronavirus right now

With everything happening in the UK right now, you might have forgotten about our old friend Covid-19. But sadly its reign of terror isn’t quite over yet. And as we slide into winter, there’s a Covid resurgence happening across the UK.

Hospital infections have risen by over a third in just a week, according to the Office for National Statistics. That means one in 65 people in England have had coronavirus in the week ending September 17 – around 850,000 people in total. 

In England, Covid is mainly popping up in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, the West Midlands, the East of England, London and the South East. The trend is more uncertain across the rest of England. 

It’s also unclear in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but there’s definitely been a rise in infections in Wales (one in 50 people had it that week). But one thing to bear in mind, the ONS says, is that far fewer people are testing now, so the stats are a bit less reliable than they were at the height of the pandemic. 

The worst hit area is Plymouth, which has the highest infection rate with 143 per every 100,000 testing positive in the week to October 1. It was followed by Gateshead, North Somerset, the Isle of Wight, Northumberland, Dorset and York. 

Here are the 20 areas with the highest number of cases and infection rates in the UK (per 100,000 people) in the week to October 1, according to the UKHSA:

1. Plymouth – 376 (number of cases) – 143 (cases per 100,000)
2. Gateshead – 286 – 141
3. North Somerset – 282 – 130
4. Isle of Wight – 182 – 127
5. Northumberland – 413 – 127
6. Dorset – 477 – 125
7. York – 262 – 124
8. East Riding of Yorkshire – 426 – 124
9. Hampshire – 1,701 – 122
10. Devon – 989 – 122
11. Nottinghamshire – 1,009 – 121
12. Stoke-on-Trent – 308 – 120
13. Torbay – 162 – 118
14. Doncaster – 372 – 118
15. East Sussex – 660 – 118
16. Cheshire East – 453 – 117
17. Derbyshire – 943 – 116
18. Southampton – 292 – 115
19. Lincolnshire – 881 – 115
20. Staffordshire – 1,009 – 114

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