Liverpool City Region has some of the highest COVID rates in the UK with two council areas in the top 10

The Omicron variant continues to cause coronavirus infection rates to hit record levels in the UK.

There were 1.07 million positive test results in the week to December 30, up 34% from the week before, official figures show.

At a local level, the Liverpool City Region was hit particularly hard with five of the six boroughs among the worst affected areas nationwide.

St Helens, Knowsley, Halton, Sefton and Wirral were all listed among the 20 council areas of the UK with the highest COVID case rates.

The UK currently has an average rate of 1,949 new cases per 100,000 people and all six Liverpool City Region boroughs are above that figure.

COVID case rates in Liverpool City Region

St Helens is the worst hit, with a new case rate of 2,430.2 per 100,000 people - the eighth highest in the whole of the UK.

The latest weekly data, up to 30 December, also reveals that neighbouring Knowsley has the ninth highest case rate in the UK, with 2,369.3 new cases per 100,000 people.

Halton has a rate of 2,326.6 new cases per 100,000 people and is listed as the 12th highest in the UK.

With a case rate of 2,289.2 per 100,000, Sefton has the 14th highest figures nationwide.

Wirral has a rate of 2289.2 new cases per 100,000 people - the 17th highest rate in the UK.

Liverpool fares slightly better and has the 32nd highest case rate in the country, with 2,108.2 new infections per 100,000 people.

What’s been said:

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that despite a record number of daily cases in England and Scotland this week he would be not imposing any further COVID-19 restrictions.

This, the Johnson said, was in large part down to the increased roll out of vaccination booster jabs.

“The public have responded and changed their behaviour, buying valuable time to get boosters in arms and help the NHS to cope with the Omicron wave,” the PM said.

“So together with the Plan B measures that we introduced before Christmas we have a chance to ride out this Omicron wave without shutting down our country once again.

“We can keep our schools and our businesses open and we can find a way to live with this virus.”

• Halton Council
• Knowsley Council
• Liverpool City Council
• Sefton Council
• St Helens Council
• Wirral Council