As tougher restrictions in the UK have been put into place and the Omicron variant is rapidly increasing, case rates of Covid-19 are continuing to rise.

The latest Covid-19 case rates have been released for local areas in the UK and infections are rising in most areas- as the Omicron variant is spreading.

The figures, for the seven days to December 5, are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, by specimen date.

Data for the most recent four days (December 6-9) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

Of the 377 local areas in the UK, 312 (83 percent) have seen a week-on-week rise in rates.

63 of the areas (17 percent) have seen a fall and two areas are unchanged.

All areas in the News Shopper patch have seen an increase of new covid cases.

In the past seven days, Greenwich has seen the highest increase in Covid infections in south east London – with 618 new infections.

Bexley

The case rate in Bexley has risen from 412.0 (1,027 cases) to 522.3 (1,302 cases).

Bromley

The case rate in Bromley has increased from 461.9 (1,537 cases) to 594.1 (1,977 cases).

Dartford

In Dartford, cases have risen from 451.6 (515 cases) to 593.6 (677 cases).

Greenwich

Greenwich’s cases have soared from 333.9 (965 cases) to 547.7 (1,583 cases).

Lewisham

The cases in Lewisham have increased from 344.2 (1,051 cases) to 514.2 (1,570 cases).

Southwark

The case rate in Southwark has risen from 326.2 (1,044 cases) to 476.2 (1,524 cases).

Torridge in Devon has the highest rate in the UK, with 632 new cases in the seven days to December 5 – the equivalent of 919.7 per 100,000 people.

The five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are: South Northamptonshire (up from 617.9 to 876.5) South Hams (629.9 to 872.1) Reigate & Banstead (668.0 to 909.9) Harborough (506.6 to 746.3) West Devon (527.3 to 753.5)