Map shows where Covid cases are on the rise as new variant located
There has been a small rise in Covid cases across the country, in a reminder that the virus has not gone away. There were 5,250 confirmed cases of in England in the seven days to August 5, according to the latest government data. That works out at 9.3 cases for every 100,000 people in the country. And the numbers are on the rise. At the same point a week earlier, there were 4,240 confirmed cases in England, and 167 in Wales. That’s equivalent to 7.5 and 5.3 cases per 100,000 people respectively. Looking at Merseyside, the St Helens borough has the highest infection rate over the past 7 days, registering a rate of 17.1 after 31 cases were confirmed. Sefton and Knowsley are next with infection rates of 14.5 and 14.5, with Wirral and Liverpool following (12.6 and 9.4). But while the figures show an increase in cases, it may not reflect the virus’ actual prevalence in the country. The removal of free testing has seen the number of tests plummet since the height of the pandemic. There were a total of just 32,336 tests taken in England in the seven days leading up to August 5, according to the government’s figures. That’s compared to 4.8 million at the same point in 2021. Some parts of the country have a higher prevalence of confirmed cases than others. There were 24.9 cases of Covid for every 100,000 people in West Devon in the seven days up to August 5. That’s the highest rate in England and Wales. In North Somerset there were 23.2 cases for every 100,000 people. In Preston there were 22.2, and in Stoke-on-Trent there were 21.4. You can see how your local area compares by using our interactive map. The latest increase in cases comes on the back of a discovery of a new sub- variant of the disease. Named EG.5 by the World Health Organisation, it’s since been given the unofficial nickname “Eris”. The sub-variant is an offshoot of the Omicron variant. However, It’s being reported that based on the available evidence there is no suggestion the sub-variant is causing more severe disease and the risks are no higher than other current variants of interest.
