CORONAVIRUS cases have risen in nearly 50 per cent of local authorities in England and this interactive map reveals the number of infections in your area.
Experts have now warned that coronavirus restrictions could last until Autumn as the new mutant variant makes relaxing the rules harder.
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Data from Public Health England (PHE) shows that in the seven days up to January 9, 49 per cent of local authorities witnessed an increase in cases, with 50 per cent seeing a drop.
Barking & Dagenham in London has the highest case rates with with 3,205 new cases recorded in the seven days to January 9 – the equivalent of 1,505.4 cases per 100,000 people.
This is down slightly from 1,634.5 in the seven days to January 2.
This is followed by Knowsley in Merseyside which has the second highest rate, up from 796.8 to 1,399.3, with 2,111 new cases.
Newham in London is in third place, down very slightly from 1,406.3 to 1,398.3, with 4,938 new cases.
Merseyside hasseen a spike in cases with Liverpool, Sefton, St Helens and the Wirral all being in the top ten of places to have had the biggest week on week jumps.
Nearby Halton in Cheshire has also seen a jump from 874.7 to 1,212.4.
Outside of the North West and Bournemouth Christchurch & Poole (BCP) has jumped from 607.3 to 881.0 cases per 100,000.
Local leaders in the area have said that spread is increasing at an "alarming rate".
Councillor Nicola Greene, BCP member for public health said transmission between households is the main way the virus is being spread in the area.
She said: "We must not visit others or allow others into our homes if we are to stop the spread.
“Our local hospitals are seeing a record number of patients with Covid-19, including in the under 60s age group, with many very seriously ill on ventilators."
Another area which has seen a large jump is Worcester which has gone from 540.4 cases per 100,000 to 768.6 cases in the last seven days.
Construction workers in the area have called for a pause on working as cases rise, Worcester has the highest case rates in the whole of Worcestershire.
Copeland in Cumbria has also witnessed an increase from 330 to 544 and Tendring in Essex has also jumped from 956.6 to 1,169.5.
Dr Mike Gogarty, director of public health at Essex County Council has issued a warning to residents in the area.
He said the area had previously had "little exposure" to the virus, but that it was now being exposed to the new variant.
Dr Gogarty said: "Sadly, transmission of the new variant of Covid-19 is increasing still and I expect to see this increase in Tendring to rise further. Of a particular concern are older people who may become unwell."
His comments come after one expert warned that the new variant would make it harder to loosen restrictions.
Professor Neil Ferguson, also known as Professor Lockdown for his role in implementing the first national lockdown in March last year said the UK would need the "highest vaccine coverage possible" for restrictions to be loosened.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today Programme he said: "We couldn't have predicted this new variant coming up, but the new variant without doubt will make the relaxation of restrictions more difficult because it is substantially more transmissible so it will be a gradual process until the Autumn".
Yesterday it was revealed that 36,489 patients are in hospital with Covid and that an additional 1,564 lost their lives.
Prof Ferguson said while it's too early to say when cases will start to come down, he says there has been a levelling off in some areas.
He said: "In some NHS regions in England and in Wales, there is a sign of plateauing, for instance London those case numbers are coming down.
"At the moment it looks like in London in particular and a couple of other regions, South East and the East of England, hospital admissions may have plateaued, though it’s hard to tell if they are coming down.
"This isn’t being seen everywhere, both case numbers and hospital admissions are going up in other areas."
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