Coronavirus vaccination efforts have stepped up in the UK, with three consecutive days of records being broken for the number of first vaccine doses administered.
To date, over 27.6 million people in the UK have received their first dose of a vaccine against COVID-19. In other positive news, the number of deaths within 28 days of positive COVID-19 tests has also continued to fall in the UK.
National coronavirus case rates have continued to fall in England and Northern Ireland recently, though have been on the rise in Scotland and Wales. In England, while the overall case rate decreased, 41% of upper-tier local authority areas had an increase in their case rate between 10 & 17 March.
Click through the slides above to view some of the latest national and UK-wide data, or keep reading to find out which areas in England had the lowest and highest recorded prevalence of the virus this week…
The 20 UTLA areas with the highest prevalence of COVID-19 cases
The following upper-tier local authority areas in England had the highest rates of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the seven-day period ending 17 March 2021.
| UTLA Area | Cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people | Change compared to case rate at 10 March |
| Barnsley | 198.89 | +38.7% |
| City of Kingston upon Hull | 165.91 | +5.1% |
| North Lincolnshire | 150.91 | +34.7% |
| Rotherham | 142.42 | +16.3% |
| Luton | 140.34 | +43.1% |
| Bradford | 136.35 | -6.7% |
| Peterborough | 135.96 | +9.1% |
| Darlington | 131.08 | +15.7% |
| North East Lincolnshire | 120.33 | -11.5% |
| Tameside | 120.09 | 0.0% |
| Wakefield | 120.01 | -10.1% |
| Salford | 116.68 | +7.0% |
| Sheffield | 113.36 | +34.0% |
| Doncaster | 111.90 | +12.9% |
| Bolton | 109.20 | +16.8% |
| Leicester | 108.41 | -8.8% |
| Rochdale | 108.36 | -9.0% |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 104.21 | -16.6% |
| Kirklees | 104.14 | +1.6% |
| Leeds | 101.62 | -5.2% |
The 20 UTLA areas with the lowest prevalence of COVID-19 cases
The following upper-tier local authority areas in England had the lowest rates of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the seven-day period ending 17 March 2021.
| UTLA Area | Cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people | Change compared to case rate at 10 March |
| Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | 15.27 | +14.8% |
| Hackney and City of London | 16.01 | -28.2% |
| Isle of Wight | 17.63 | +8.9% |
| East Sussex | 17.95 | +0.3% |
| Devon | 18.32 | -18.2% |
| Gloucestershire | 19.62 | -19.3% |
| Kensington and Chelsea | 20.50 | -22.1% |
| Bath and North East Somerset | 21.21 | +2.5% |
| Camden | 22.22 | -28.6% |
| Southwark | 22.90 | -6.5% |
| Bexley | 23.36 | -24.6% |
| Cumbria | 24.40 | -9.0% |
| Haringey | 24.94 | -13.1% |
| Barnet | 25.51 | -31.2% |
| Wirral | 25.93 | -45.8% |
| Wiltshire | 27.20 | -22.7% |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | 27.57 | -17.4% |
| Dorset | 28.27 | -21.3% |
| Waltham Forest | 28.88 | -41.2% |
| Enfield | 29.06 | +4.2% |
UTLA areas where there has been an increase in the COVID-19 case rate by more than 15% recently
The following upper-tier local authority areas in England saw an increase in their rates of COVID-19 cases by more than 15% per 100,000 people in the seven-day period ending 17 March 2021, compared to the previous 7-day period.
| UTLA Area | Cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people | Change compared to case rate at 10 March |
| Luton | 140.34 | 43.1% |
| Barnsley | 198.89 | 38.7% |
| Wokingham | 39.74 | 36.1% |
| North Lincolnshire | 150.91 | 34.7% |
| Reading | 45.74 | 34.5% |
| Sheffield | 113.36 | 34.0% |
| South Tyneside | 84.12 | 32.3% |
| Solihull | 91.05 | 32.1% |
| Dudley | 71.52 | 30.7% |
| Herefordshire, County of | 30.08 | 29.1% |
| Islington | 35.06 | 25.2% |
| Brighton and Hove | 33.35 | 24.4% |
| Plymouth | 33.19 | 22.5% |
| Northumberland | 63.89 | 21.2% |
| Wolverhampton | 71.77 | 21.2% |
| Merton | 45.51 | 20.4% |
| Bury | 90.58 | 19.3% |
| Lewisham | 29.10 | 18.8% |
| Southampton | 89.10 | 17.2% |
| Bolton | 109.20 | 16.8% |
| Wandsworth | 38.22 | 16.5% |
| Rotherham | 142.42 | 16.3% |
| Darlington | 131.08 | 15.7% |
| West Sussex | 36.23 | 15.4% |
Data referenced in this article is publicly available from coronavirus.data.gov.uk. Where data is only included up to 16/17 March, this is to try to ensure accuracy, due to there being a delay between virus tests taking place and cases been recorded. Data may be updated – the inclusion of data here and our analysis is based on the available data at the time of writing. Our analysis has been created for information purposes only and we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
