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PA Media
Cases have doubled in the past week.
Blackburn with Darwen is overtaking Leicester as England’s coronavirus access point, according to official figures.
The city of Lancashire had the highest infection rate, with 79.2 cases per 100,000 people in the week through July 17, Public Health England said.
Cases have doubled in the past week, with 118 confirmed, compared with 63 in the previous week.
The latest figures are subject to daily review, but reflect the position on Sunday night.
New measures to curb the spread of Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen have already been introduced after a spike.
New cases in Leicester, where there is a local closure, have fallen at a rate of 77.7, with 276 new infections, compared to 429 the previous week.
Analysis
By Daniel Wainwright, BBC England Data Unit
Data on new coronavirus cases is released every afternoon, and that means new results are added for the previous days all the time.
So far, looking at the week through Friday, Blackburn with Darwen has recorded twice as many cases as it had in the previous week, while cases in Leicester, which is in a localized blockade, appear to be falling.
Last Wednesday, both areas registered 35 new cases. However, with Leicester having a population more than twice the size of Blackburn with Darwen, that gave Lancashire County a higher rate of new cases per 100,000 residents.
If Blackburn with Darwen takes Leicester’s top spot it should be cleared up in the next day or two.
Most of the new cases in the Blackburn area have been in the South Asian community centered on townhomes with large occupants, public health officials said.
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AFP
Most new Blackburn cases are in the South Asian community
Professor Dominic Harrison, Blackburn’s director of public health with the Darwen Council, warned that cases will continue to rise.
He said: “We should be concerned that the numbers have gone up, but I fully expected that they would and I hope they will increase again this week.”
Professor Harrison cautioned that a local block could be imposed if things were not resolved.
“We would only use those powers as a very, very last resort,” he said.
“We have had good cooperation, so I would be very reluctant to use the powers.”
Over the weekend it was revealed that contact trackers had reached only half of Covid-19’s contacts in the area.
Sam Ali urged locals “to realize that the pandemic is still here”
Sam Ali of the Switch Community Youth Organization in the city said: “We have all been affected by this.
“Anyone across the country would not want to be on the radar for another lockdown, but it is important to realize that the pandemic is still here.”
“We need to wear the appropriate masks, we must wash our hands, we must stay distant.”
“Blackburn is a fantastic city. Let’s get stronger with this.”
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