Areas across North Tyneside , Northumberland and County Durham are facing the highest rates of Covid-19, new figures show.
Across the UK, the Government's official figures show the case rate per 100,000 people has fallen to 636.3. That's the third day in a row that the rate has fallen more than 20% compared to a week earlier, though at this stage it is difficult to separate how much this is due to the reduced availability of Covid-19 testing and how much is due to the virus' spread slowing.
This comes after the Office for National Statistics showed that one in every 13 people had Covid-19 last week. Fewer tests are being taken in the North East, the latest data shows hundreds are still testing positive each day. Free Covid-19 testing ended on March 31.
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The Government's data showing seven-day Covid rates now includes three full days where mass testing was not available. Cases rates remain high but as of April 3 there are only 12 local areas in our region with case rates of over 1,000 per 100,000 people. The highest rate of cases is still in Newbiggin in Northumberland.
In the North East as a wider region, an average of 21,231 Covid-19 tests were reported across the first three days in April. On the equivalent days a week earlier, an average of 26,376 tests were reported.
As of April 2, In County Durham , the case rate is down to 673.7 per 100,000 - reflecting 3,592 new cases reported over the week. That's almost 400 less than on March 31. On the April 3 there were 4,297 Covid-19 tests reported in the county - more than 6,000 were reported in each of the last three days in March.
In Gateshead the data shows a rate now down to 717 per 100,000 people - after 1,448 new cases. That's a week-on-week fall of 12.7%. of 758.6 after 1,532 new cases. In Newcastle the rate of cases fell sharply again too - by 19.9% week-on-week to 616.3. There were 1,891 positive cases reported over seven days.
And in Northumberland the case rate is down 19.2% to 774.8. after 2,509 reported cases over the week. Similarly, North Tyneside - where case rates smashed 1,000 over the last few days in March - has now seen a 15.3% week-on-week fall. The rate over a week is now 869.9 after 1,817 new cases across the borough.
South Tyneside's official Covid rate is the lowest in the area - it's now just 592.2 and fell 21.8%. There were 895 positive cases reported in the week to April 3, In Sunderland , the seven-day case rate has fallen to 715.1 - equivalent to 1,987 cases over a week. That's 12.8% down on a week earlier.
Amid the Goverment's Living With Covid plans, there have been concerns that cutting free Covid-19 testing would see a murkier picture about the virus' prevalence. By comparison, The ZOE Covid-19 study currently predicts more than four and a half million people in the UK currently have symptomatic Covid.
This would mean more than 19,000 active cases in Newcastle - substantially higher than the official Government data, but a similar figure to that suggested by the Office for National Statistics's estimate that one in 13 people had Covid in the seven days to April 2 across the UK.
The Government added a warning to its data to reflect that the changes would affect almost every metric on the national coronavirus dashboard - but as it stands the numbers still show high levels of infection in areas of the North East. The ONS figures show that the number of people to have had Covid-19 appears to have stabilised in the week to April 2 - it estimated around one in 13 were infected a week earlier, too - but the agency makes clear that "after March 30, estimates have greater uncertainty".
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The 10 areas with the highest Covid-19 rates in the North East:
Newbiggin - 1,356.5 cases per 100,000 and 82 new cases
Belmont & Carrville - 1,238.2 cases per 100,000 and 92 new cases
Tynemouth West - 1,202.1 cases per 100,000 and 70 new cases
Holystone & Benton - 1,180.3 cases per 100,000 and 111 new cases
Monkseaton - 1,134.7 cases per 100,000 and 94 new cases
Ashington West - 1,124.4 cases per 100,000 and 83 new cases
Kingston Park & Dinnington - 1,092 cases per 100,000 and 151 new cases
Killingworth West & Camperdown - 1,082.7 cases per 100,000 and 72 new cases
Tynemouth Priory - 1,067.4 cases per 100,000 and 67 new cases
Battle Hill West - 1,056.7 cases per 100,000 and 57 new cases
