How Sheffield's coronavirus infection rate compares as Manchester declares 'major incident'

Meanwhile, local lockdowns have been introduced in other parts of the North of England, including East Lancashire and West Yorkshire, and Greater Manchester has declared a ‘major incident’ in response to the infection rate spiking alarmingly.

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In spite of Sheffield’s infection rate, which has risen to 17.2 cases per per 100,000 people for the week ending July 30, Sheffield’s director for public health Greg Fell has reassured residents of the city that they are not facing another lockdown, and that the increased rate is actually a sign of progress through increased testing.

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In Greater Manchester, there are four areas in particular where the number of new cases jumped alarmingly from the week ending July 23 to the week ending July 30.

These are:

- Trafford (up from 31.3 to 38.1, with 90 new cases)

- Manchester (up from 18.6 to 34.3, with 188 new cases)

- Tameside (up from 12.9 to 28.4, with 64 new cases)

- Stockport (up from 13.7 to 22.6, with 66 new cases)

Other parts of Greater Manchester where the infection rate is lower have also faced lockdown.

The list has been compiled by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on August 2 on the Government's coronavirus online dashboard.

In every case above, the infection rates in these areas are significantly higher than the infection rate in Sheffield.

And the important factor to consider is that the infection rate in the places where lockdown has been imposed has risen significantly in the last week on record.

Meanwhile, although Sheffield’s rate rose from 15.3 per 100,000 people to 17.9 by the week ending July 23, it fell to 17.2 for the week ending July 30.

In Rotherham the number of new cases per 100,000 people is 10.6 for the week ending July 30, and 11.3 the week beforehand.

In Barnsley the number of new cases per 100,000 people is 9.0 for the week ending July 30, and 12.6 for the week beforehand.