The 360 hotspots where Covid cases are rising – is your area on the list?

CORONAVIRUS cases are rising in 360 places and this interactive map reveals if you local authority is one of them.

Cases of the Omicron variant have continued to rise, but experts have said that most people are suffering from cold-like symptoms.

Omicron is now responsible for 90 per cent of cases in the UK and has taken over from the Delta variant.

It comes as a string of hugely positive studies show Omicron IS milder than other strains, with the first official UK report revealing the risk of hospitalisation is 50 to 70 per cent lower than with Delta.

Covid booster jabs protect against Omicron and offer the best chance to get through the pandemic, health officials have repeatedly said.

The Sun’s Jabs Army campaign is helping get the vital extra vaccines in Brits’ arms to ward off the need for any new restrictions.

Data in the seven days up to December 25 shows that just 17 places have seen a fall in cases and the map above shows current infection rates.

London had been the epicentre of the Omicron outbreak and while cases still remain high in the capital, many of the most infected boroughs have seen a fall in cases.

Lambeth in London continues to have the highest rate in the UK, with 7,773 new cases in the seven days to December 25, the equivalent of 2,415.4 per 100,000 people.

This is down from a rate of 3,029.1 for the seven days to December 18.

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Southwark in London has the second-highest rate, down from 2,540.2 to 2,274.6, with 7,279 new cases.

Lewisham in London has the third-highest rate, up from 2,187.9 to 2,250.5, with 6,871 new cases.

In London, Wandsworth has also seen a fall in cases, dropping from 2918.7 to 2241.2.

Hammersmith and Fulham has also fallen from 2367.8 to 2052.4 and Hackney and City of London has dropped from 2606.2 to 1940.2.

Derry City & Strabane has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (1,653.1, up from 768.3); East Renfrewshire has the highest rate in Scotland (1,458.5, up from 903.6); and Cardiff has the highest rate in Wales (1,349.1, up from 820.7).

While these are the most infected areas in the UK, there are five areas where cases have seen a dramatic rise in the last week.

Barrow-in-Furness, in Cumbria, has jumped from 544.0 cases per 100,000 to 1,554.1.

The vaccine drive has continued in the area and over the Christmas break schools have turned into jab sites in order to get as many people boosted as possible.

Just an hour down the road from Barrow-in-Furness, and Copeland, also in Cumbria, has also witnessed a jump in rates, going from 439.4 to 1,325.7.

Professor John Ashton, Former Director of Public Health for Cumbria said tougher measures needed to be introduced in order to combat Omicron.

He said it was “highly likely” that the Government would have to take additional steps in the coming days.

However, the Government this week said that no further restrictions would be implemented and that New Year celebrations could go ahead as planned.

The third area that has seen a large rise in rates is Derry City & Strabane in Northern Ireland, which has jumped from 768.3 to 1,653.1.

Tameside in Manchester has also jumped from 708.0 to 1,569.2 and West Lancashire has witnessed an increase from 533.6 to 1,324.1.

The latest Covid figures for the whole country yesterday revealed that Britain had recorded a record number of new infections.

A further 183,037 cases were recorded and an additional 57 deaths.

However, the record-breaking figures include a backlog of cases from before December 25.

But there was positive news on the vaccine front, with a total of 33,091,891 third doses now in the arms of Brits.

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