Coronavirus cases now rising in THREE areas of South Yorkshire – including Sheffield

In the seven days up to January 22, the infection rate in Barnsley has risen from 234.5 to 263.7. This reflects an increase from 579 new cases in the week to January 15 to 651 in the week to January 22.

The infection rate also rose in two of the other three Suth Yorkshire local authorities.

In Sheffield, it rose to 240.1 (1404 new cases) from 236.8 (1385 new cases), and in Rotherham it rose to 293.9 (780 new cases) in the week to January 22 from 270.1 (717 new cases) the week before.

Sheffield GP practice closes Covid-19 vaccination site after ‘significant reduction’ in supply

The only area that saw an decline in the infection rate was Doncaster.

There, the infection rate fell from 283.4 to 246.9. This reflects a week-on-week decline in new cases from 884 to 770.

The figures, for the seven days to January 22, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Data for the most recent four days (January 23-26) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 26 (8%) have seen a rise in case rates, 289 (92%) have seen a fall and one is unchanged.