Northampton has one of highest rates of new Covid-19 cases in England...but other areas of county are higher

Clear coronavirus hotspots are emerging across the UK, including Northamptonshire, as the Government is unveiling plans for "local lockdown" in the next phase of the fight against the pandemic.

Kettering has reported a surge in new coronavirus cases over the past fortnight, suggesting it could be emerging as a hotspot.

Northampton has also seen one of the highest number of new cases across the country.

The figures have come from a special report by the investigations team at JPIMedia, owners of the Chronicle & Echo.

It shows the number of new Covid-19 cases between May 9 and May 23 and looks at it per 100,000 of the population.

In Northampton, there were 396 confirmed cases as of May 9. By May 23 that had increased by 77 to 473 cases, a rate of 34.3 cases per 100,000 population. There are 224,610 people currently living in Northampton.

Northampton is ranked 53rd out of 313 areas in the country for new cases.

Kettering is 13th in England for new coronavirus cases between Saturday, May 9, the day after VE Day, and Saturday, May 23.

The area had 50 new confirmed cases during the two week period, taking the total number of cases from 180 to 230. As of yesterday (Wednesday) there were 232 confirmed cases in Kettering.

This works out as the equivalent of 49.1 new cases for every 100,000 people in the previous two weeks.

Lockdowns on towns seeing spikes in infection rates are set to be part of the ‘test and trace’ system being introduced in England today (Thursday, May 28).

At Tuesday’s daily press briefing, health secretary Matt Hancock said: “We will have local lockdowns in future where there are flare-ups.

“We have a system that we are putting in place with a combination of Public Health England and the new Joint Biosecurity Centre, along with the local directors of public health, who play an absolutely crucial role in decision-making in this system, to make sure if there is a local flare-up, we have a local lockdown.”

Elsewhere in the county, Wellingborough saw a significant increase in confirmed Covid-19 cases.

In the two weeks between May 9 and May 23, there were 36 new cases, a rate of 45.9 per 100,000 of the population.

This places Wellingborough as 25th in England for new coronavirus cases in the past fortnight.

Corby saw an increase of 25 new cases in the same period, a rate of 34.6 per 100,000 people which makes it 52nd in England for emerging hotspots.

East Northamptonshire is 53rd, with 31 new cases in the past two weeks, a rate of 32.8 per 100,000 people.

South Northamptonshire is 109th with 20 new cases, rate of 21.2 per 100,000 people and Daventry had is 120th with 17 new cases, a rate of 19.8.