CORONAVIRUS cases are rising in 43 areas of England, according to the latest Government data.

Rutland in the East Midlands, Craven in North Yorkshire and Brentwood in Essex have all seen a sharp increase in Covid infections in the past week.

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The above interactive map shows the latest Government figures from yesterday, however they are not complete as testing rates can vary.

Yesterday, Prime Minister set out his four-stage roadmap for easing lockdown – which relies in part on infection rates.

Outlining the key stages in the Commons on Monday, Boris Johnson said: "At every stage, our decisions will be led by data not dates, and subjected to four tests.

"First, that the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully; second, that evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths.

"Third, that infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS; and fourth, that our assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new variants of Covid that cause concern.

"Before taking each step we will review the data against these tests and because it takes at least four weeks for the data to reflect the impact of relaxations in restrictions and we want to give the country a week’s notice before each change – there will be at least five weeks between each step."

The 43 places where cases are rising in England

The figures show: rate of new cases in the seven days to February 18 and the number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in this period.

Rutland, 237.9, (95), 182.8, (73)

Tamworth, 236.0, (181), 203.4, (156)

North Warwickshire, 226.8, (148), 196.1, (128)

North West Leicestershire, 224.9, (233), 202.7, (210)

Slough, 224.0, (335), 210.6, (315)

Redditch, 222.8, (190), 202.9, (173)

Wellingborough, 222.1, (177), 203.2, (162)

Bury, 219.9, (420), 206.3, (394)

Charnwood, 203.9, (379), 182.4, (339)

Erewash, 202.0, (233), 190.7, (220)

Doncaster, 198.5, (619), 186.3, (581)

Tameside, 196.9, (446), 196.5, (445)

Wakefield, 188.0, (655), 182.6, (636)

Hartlepool, 185.8, (174), 178.3, (167)

Broxtowe, 183.3, (209), 162.2, (185)

Nuneaton and Bedworth, 177.9, (231), 173.2, (225)

Barrow-in-Furness, 173.0, (116), 150.6, (101)

Leeds, 172.6, (1369), 171.1, (135)

South Holland, 172.6, (164), 166.3, (158)

Oadby and Wigston, 170.1, (97), 154.3, (88)

Hinckley and Bosworth, 165.3, (187), 156.4, (177)

Lancaster, 158.2, (231), 147.2, (215)

North Tyneside, 155.8, (324), 155.4, (323)

Great Yarmouth, 139.9, (139), 129.9, (129)

Malvern Hills, 136.0, (107), 104.2, (82)

Gosport, 132.0, (112), 123.8, (105)

Fareham, 124.7, (145), 115.3, (134)

Wyre, 120.4, (135), 115.1, (129)

Brentwood, 118.1, (91), 83.1, (64)

West Lindsey, 118.1, (113), 113.9, (109)

North East Lincolnshire, 116.6, (186), 97.8, (156)

Gravesham, 102.9, (110), 101.9, (109)

Surrey Heath, 96.3, (86), 78.4, (70)

Herefordshire, 95.4, (184), 73.7, (142)

Ryedale, 93.9, (52), 92.1, (51)

Stratford-on-Avon, 93.8, (122), 87.6, (114)

Basildon, 89.2, (167), 88.7, (166)

Craven, 80.5, (46), 43.8, (25)

East Hertfordshire, 78.1, (117), 76.1, (114)

Winchester, 72.9, (91), 72.1, (90)

Babergh, 60.8, (56), 54.3, (50)

The most recent data from Public Health England shows that of the 315 local areas in England, 43 have seen a rise in case rates.

Meanwhile, 267, or 85 per cent, have seen a fall and five remain unchanged.

The figures, for the seven days to February 18, are based on tests carried out in labs and in the wider community with the rate expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

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

Corby in Northamptonshire continues to have the highest rate in England, with 238 new cases recorded in the seven days to February 18 – the equivalent of 329.6 cases per 100,000 people.

This is down slightly from 347.6 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to February 11.

Middlesbrough has the second highest rate, down from 316.4 to 285.1, with 402 new cases.

Peterborough is third, down very slightly from 276.9 to 270.0, with 546 new cases.

Of the 43 areas to record a week-on-week rise, the top three include Rutland (up from 182.8 to 237.9), Craven (43.8 to 80.5 and Brentwood (83.1 to 118.1).

They are followed by Tamworth (203.4 to 236.0) and Malvern Hills (104.2 to 136.0).

GET JABBED

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has issued a renewed appeal for people to get the coronavirus jab amid warnings that the virus may persist in deprived inner city communities where uptake is low.

After Prime Minister Boris Johnson set out his "road map" out of lockdown in England – with a gradual lifting of restrictions over the coming months – Mr Hancock said it is "absolutely on all of us" to get the vaccination when invited.

The Government has faced criticism from some Tory MPs over the pace of the easing, which will not see all legal controls removed until June 21 at the earliest.

Chairman of the Covid Recovery Group Mark Harper said that, with uptake of more than 90 per cent among those groups which have been offered the vaccine, the country should not be "held back" by those who refuse it.

However, Dr Mike Tildesley, reader in mathematical modelling of infectious diseases at the University of Warwick and member of government advisory group SPI-M, warned that failure to ensure all communities are protected could lead to a new wave of infections.

"We know there are certain areas – in particularly inner city areas, deprived areas – where vaccine uptake is not as high," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"And that actually poses a real risk that we are not capturing currently in those models – if we do get these pockets of infection then it could be that actually we could have a more significant risk.

"So actually it's really important that we get the vaccines out to those deprived communities to prevent a potential wave of infections occurring as we do unlock."

FOUR-STAGE ROADMAP

Setting out his four-step plan on Monday, the Prime Minister defended his "cautious but also irreversible" approach to relaxing restrictions, saying he would not be "buccaneering" with people's lives.

Despite billing it as a "one-way road to freedom", he admitted, however, he could not guarantee that the vaccination programme will prevent restrictions from ever returning.

Mr Johnson accepted that scientific modelling suggested that lifting measures will increase Covid-19 cases and ultimately deaths, but said restrictions cannot continue indefinitely.

In the first step of the "road map", all pupils in England's schools are expected to return to class from March 8, with wider use of face masks and testing in secondaries.

Socialising in parks and public spaces with one other person will also be permitted from that date.

A further easing will take place on March 29, when the school Easter holidays begin, with larger groups of up to six people or two households allowed to gather in parks and gardens.

But progressing along the schedule will depend on meeting four tests: the success of the vaccine rollout, evidence of vaccine efficacy, an assessment of new variants, and keeping infection rates below a level that could put unsustainable pressure on the NHS.

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