The 18 new places on coronavirus watch list revealed – with 2 areas added this week

THESE are the 18 new places on the UK’s coronavirus watch list, according to data from the COVID Symptom Tracker app.

Two areas in Scotland have crept onto the list this week with the remaining hotspot areas being dominated by towns and cities in the North of the country.

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Seven places in Norfolk, including Norwich, have been removed from the watchlist.

However 18 others have been added bringing the total to 58.

The latest figures estimate that 69,686 people currently have symptomatic Covid in the UK.

This figure has doubled from last week when it was reported that 35,248 people were reporting symptoms the virus.

The data published by King’s College London comes as the Office for National Statistics revealed that from September 4 to September 10, there had been 6,000 new infections of the virus each day.

This equates to 1.10 new infections per 10,000 people per day and is almost double last week’s figure.

Last week it was estimated that 3,200 a day were being infected by the virus.

The figures released by King’s College are based on 8,124 swab tests done between 31 August to 13 September.

The data released by King’s College is separate from data produced by the government which is based on information provided to them by Public Health England.

Based on data from the King’s College app there are two new hotspots, with Edinburgh and Mid Lothian both making it onto the list this week.

They have knocked Bolton and East Dunbartonshire off the list from last week.

This week’s data reveals that Belfast in Northern Ireland is at the top of the list with 0.5 per cent of residents in the area having displayed symptoms of 1,594 people using the app.

Second on the list is Lisburn and Castlereagh – also in Northern Ireland, where 0.5 per cent of 1,018 people using the app said they had symptoms.

The third hot spot is Glasgow, in Scotland where 0.4 per cent of 5,722 people using the app said they were symptomatic.

Just yesterday it was reported that a businesses in the city centre had to close its doors after a worker tested positive for the virus.

Track and trace is now underway to find anyone who was at the Tibo cafe and may have come into contact with the worker.

The fourth hot spot on the list is Liverpool, where it has just been announced that residents will have to adhere to a curfew.

Of 4,275 people using the app in the city, 0.38 per cent said they were symptomatic.

Another Scottish entry for number five on the list with North Lanarkshire where 0.36 per cent said they were symptomatic of 2.093 using the app.

Ards and North Down in Northern Ireland is sixth on the list with 0.35 per cent of 1,137 people using the app reporting to be symptomatic.

East Renfrewshire in Scotland is in seventh place and of the 1,658 people using the app, 0.34 per cent said they were symptomatic.

In eighth place Midlothian in Scotland is a new entry where of 1,134 people using the app, 0.33 per cent said they were symptomatic.

It is followed by the other new entry on the list, Edinburgh.

Of 11,064 people using the app to log symptoms, 0.31 per cent said they were symptomatic.

Last on the list is Manchester where 0.31 per cent of 4,907 people using the app said they were symptomatic.

Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King’s College London said the data from the app “paints a worrying picture”.

The data also estimates that across the UK there are 7,536 new cases each day.

In England there is 5,962, in Scotland 842, Wales 501 and Northern Ireland 231.

Breaking the down the English regions and this equates to 439 in the South East, 1,263 in London, 1,124 in the Midlands, 375 in the East of England, 1,671 in the North East and Yorkshire, 151 in the South West and 1,642 in the North West.

Data from the King’s College app also estimates that the R rate is currently at 1.4 in England, 1.3 in Scotland and 1.3 in Wales, with cases doubling every seven days.

The estimates from the app come as the government also published it’s R rate.

Government scientists say they are confident the number is now above the crucial value of 1 which means the epidemic is growing again.

They estimated the figure to be between a range of 1.1 and 1.4 for the whole of the UK, which has risen from between 1 and 1.2 last week.

An R number between 1.1 and 1.4 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 11 and 14 other people.

The regional breakdown suggests that the range for every region is now above 1, except the South West which is somewhere between 0.9 and 1.6.

The Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) also warns the growth rate – which reflects how quickly the number of infections are changing day-by-day – has increased.

Last week the growth rate was between minus one per cent and three per cent – this week it’s between two per cent and seven per cent.

This means that the number of new infections is growing by two and seven per cent every day, rather than shrinking slightly as it was last week.

Prof Spector said cases are on the rise in the UK with the only exception being the South West where numbers are staying low.

He added: “With the lockdown coming into place in the North of England, the data suggests that localised lockdowns will be the best approach whilst we are still seeing big differences between The South and The North.

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