North East has 4,320 new coronavirus infections every DAY as Yorkshire is worst-hit for new cases

Research conducted by Cambridge University and Public Health England suggests the region has a coronavirus infection rate of 0.8 and is seeing around 4,320 infections a day.

It means for every 10 people who catch the virus in the North East and Yorkshire, they pass it on to eight others between them.

The figure is worryingly close to the Government’s benchmark of one, which it has said the “R” rate of infection must stay below in order to ease the lockdown.

Meanwhile, the North West is the second worst-hit region for new cases, where 2,380 infections are being recorded each day.

The South West has an R rate of 0.76, slightly more than the North West which has a rate of 0.73.

REGIONS HIT

Of the 10 towns with the highest infection rates across the UK – eight are in the North.

The remote town of Barrow-in-Furness has the highest coronavirus infection rate in the country – with 882 cases per 100,000 people – 0.88 per cent.

It means Barrow’s infection rate is more than double that of Wales at 368.7, triple England’s rate of 246.4 and of Scotland’s infection rate of 253.1 as well as quadruple the rate recorded of 222.8 in Northern Ireland.

When asked whether the R rate should be looked at regionally, Professor Sebastian Funk of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, told BBC Radio 4: “I absolutely do so, yes.”

Pushed on whether the Government should react to different R rates regionally in policy terms too, he added: “I think that is something that we will probably have to do going forward.”

LONDON FALLING

It comes as London, which has so far been the UK’s worst hit location, records just 24 new cases each day – and it could be virus-free within a fortnight.

The capital’s “R” reproduction rate has fallen to 0.4, down from around 2.8 before the lockdown.

The fall means that the number of new cases being recorded in London is now halving every 3.5 days, the Telegraph reported.

At the peak of the crisis, the number of people being infected in the capital each day stood at 213,000, and that figure fell to around 10,000 after the lockdown was imposed.

LIVES LOST

It comes as coronavirus fatalities in the UK have risen to 33,614 after 428 more deaths were recorded yesterday.

A total of 233,151 people have now tested positive for Covid-19 across Britain – up 3,446 cases from Wednesday.

And new figures reveal that the number of coronavirus deaths in UK care homes has now surpassed 12,000.

The tally in care homes is now 12,526 – with the South East and North West being the worst affected regions.

Asked if 24 new cases a day in the capital is robust, Prof Funk said: “Well, there is some variation around this and there is some uncertainty in this, but what we have observed in London is that case numbers and death numbers have come down faster than in other parts of the country – albeit from a considerably higher level.

“So I think it… well, I would say it is a little bit higher than that, but it is probably lower than the rest of the country.”