There were 570,550 positive cases in the United Kingdom in the week ending March 17, a huge 39% jump on the week before.
Some 366 of the UK’s 380 local authorities (96%) saw cases rise in the past week, with two areas - Torridge in Devon and Burnley in Lancashire - seeing cases double.
The lifting of many restrictions, waning effectiveness of boosters and the spread of the highly contagious BA.2 ‘Stealth Omicron’ variant have all been touted as potential reasons for rising infection rates.
At a regional level, Scotland still had the highest case rate in the week to March 17, at 1,619 cases per 100,000 residents.
This was followed by the South West, with 1,200 cases per 100,000 residents.
The lowest case rate was in Wales, with 412 cases per 100,000 residents.
The figures include both positive PCR and lateral flow tests, except in Wales where only PCRs are counted.
They include people infected with Covid-19 for the first time as well as reinfections.
At neighbourhood level, Covid-19 case rates have been published for the week to March 17.
Here are the neighbourhoods in the Harrogate district with the highest case rates right now.
Source: UK Government - https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
5. Saltergate
This neighbourhood had 965.4 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week, an increase of 46.0% from the week before Photo: Google
6. Ripon South and East
This neighbourhood had 938.5 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week, a decrease of 6.9% from the week before Photo: Google
7. Spofforth, Burn Bridge and Huby
This neighbourhood had 922.2 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week, a decrease of 5.2% from the week before Photo: Google
8. Stray
This neighbourhood had 858.0 Covid-19 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week, a decrease of 7.0% from the week before Photo: Google