Covid rates hit record high in Doncaster as new 'Freedom Day' figures released

Doncaster has the highest rate in Yorkshire and one of the highest in England with a current rate of 729.1 cases per 100,000 people – the highest figure since the start of the pandemic.

Today sees the Government’s lifting of all coronavirus restrictions, with rules on face mask wearing, social distancing, working from home guidance and rules on meeting up with others all scrapped.

But it comes as coronavirus infection rates rocket across the country.

Around one in six areas in England are now reporting their highest rate of new Covid-19 cases since comparable records began last summer, when mass testing was first introduced in the UK, latest figures show.

Data also shows that every local area in England is now recording coronavirus rates above the symbolic level of 100 cases per 100,000 people – the first time this has happened since early January, at the peak of the second wave.

All rates are for the seven days to July 14, with case data for July 15-18 excluded as it is incomplete.

The figures reflect the impact of the third wave of coronavirus, which began in the UK at the end of May and is now causing a sharp rise in new cases across the country.

England’s overall rate of new cases currently stands at 425.3 per 100,000 people: the highest since January 19.

There have been more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths in Doncaster during the pandemic.