Burnley areas where Covid infections rose the fastest in the past week as cases across the town double

They are also on the up in many neighbourhoods within Burnley.

There were 570,550 positive cases in the UK in the week ending March 17, a huge 39% jump on the week before.

It has affected nearly all areas. Some 366 of the UK’s 380 local authorities (96%) saw cases rise in the past week, with Burnley seeing cases double.

The lifting of many restrictions, waning effectiveness of boosters and the spread of the highly contagious BA.2 ‘stealth Omicron’ variant have all been touted as potential reasons for rising infection rates.

At a regional level, Scotland still had the highest case rate in the week to March 17, at 1,619 cases per 100,000 residents.

This was followed by the South West, with 1,200 cases per 100,000 residents. The lowest case rate was in Wales, with 412 cases per 100,000 residents.

The figures include both positive PCR and lateral flow tests, except in Wales where only PCRs are counted.

They include people infected with Covid-19 for the first time as well as reinfections.

At neighbourhood level, Covid-19 case rates have been published for the week to March 17.

Here are the neighbourhoods in Burnley with the biggest rise in case rates in the past week.