Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to address the nation this afternoon following a week of soaring coronavirus cases and the highest daily death tolls since the pandemic began. Now data has shown several areas have seen a week-on-week rises in cases. The R-rate in the UK currently sits at 1.2 to 1.3 meaning if 10 people caught the virus, 12 to 13 others would become infected.
The soaring cases comes as a Government advisor suggested only 18 percent of people with symptoms are self-isolating for the full 10 days as instructed.
Professor Susan Michie, of the Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There will be people, for example single earners in a household looking after a family where £500 over 10 days, £50 a day, is not enough to pay the rent, to pay all the bills and put food on the table.
“There is a particular group of people who would need more from that £500 but at least the Government is recognising this is a key weakness in the whole pandemic strategy.
“If you have 82 percent of people with symptoms wandering around the community it is very very difficult to bring this level down.”
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First is Erewash in Derbyshire, which has seen cases rise to 474.1 per 100,000 of the population, up from 397.8.
Next is Redditch, Worcestershire with 690.8 cases per 100,000 of the population, up from 618.1.
The 10 areas with the biggest week-on-week rise in rates are:
1. Erewash (up from 397.8 to 474.1)
2. Redditch (618.1 to 690.8)
3. Hinckley & Bosworth (320.0 to 367.7)
4. North Warwickshire (372.3 to 419.8)
5. Somerset West & Taunton (343.6 to 390.0)
6. North West Leicestershire (333.0 to 376.4)
7. Solihull (499.6 to 535.2)
8. Plymouth (298.7 to 326.2)
9. Ryedale (276.3 to 301.6)
10. Leicester (542.9 to 566.6)
