Covid-19 case rates for three of the four UK nations have dropped below the symbolic level of 100 cases per 100,000 people, suggesting lockdown restrictions across the country are continuing to drive down the overall spread of the virus.
Wales currently has the lowest rate among the four nations, with 65.7 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to February 24.
This is the lowest rate for Wales since the seven days to September 22, 2020.
Both Scotland and Northern Ireland are now just below 100 cases per 100,000 people.
READ MORE: Jeane Freeman - 'An end to the pandemic may be in sight'
Scotland currently has a seven-day rate of 95.7 cases per 100,000, the lowest since October 4, while Northern Ireland is at 97.0, the lowest since September 28.
England remains just above 100, at 102.8 cases per 100,000 – the lowest rate since October 1.
The figures have been calculated by the PA news agency from the latest health agency data.
The steep drop in rates since the start of the year suggests the various lockdowns in place across the UK have played a key role in reducing the number of new reported cases of coronavirus.
However, there are some local areas that are continuing to record a week-on-week rise in rates.
For the seven days to February 24, 41 of the 315 local authority areas in England saw an increase in rates, though in most cases the rise was very small.
The biggest jump was in Fenland in Cambridgeshire, where rates increased from 178.7 to 230.7.
Lockdown measures are said to be working
In Scotland, eight of the 32 council areas recorded a rise in the same period, though overall levels remained low.
East Lothian saw the biggest rise, up from 75.6 to 113.9.
Just one of the 22 local authorities in Wales saw an increase in rates in the latest figures: Torfaen, up slightly from 64.9 to 78.8.
READ MORE: Health Secretary Jeane Freeman confirms rise in cases
Four of the 11 council areas in Northern Ireland witnessed a rise, the biggest being in Mid and East Antrim – up from 90.5 to 124.9.
England’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer Professor Jonathan Van-Tam has described case rates in “quite a few areas of the UK” as “burning quite hot”, including in the Midlands and spreading up to the west coast of England.
Speaking at the Downing Street press conference on Friday, he said: “Although it is generally good news, I’m afraid it is better news in some places than it is in others and this is not a battle that we have won yet.
“In some parts of the UK case rates are changing, albeit slowly, in the wrong direction.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel