THE coronavirus rate in one Sussex area has more than tripled in a week.
Tier 2 Lewes has gone from having one of the lowest figures in the country to having hundreds of new weekly cases in the most recent data.
There were just 78 cases recorded in the area in the seven days leading up to December 10, giving it a weekly rate of 75.5 new cases per 100,000 population.
This meant it had the 31st lowest rate of the 315 local authority areas in England.
But, in the most recent figures covering the seven days leading up to December 17, the number of cases recorded in Lewes has soared.
There were 254 cases confirmed in the area during this period, giving an updated weekly rate of 246 cases per 100,000 population.
This is the greatest weekly percentage increase in Sussex - up 225.8 per cent.
However, it is not the greatest rise recorded in the county.
That was reported in Tier 4 Hastings, where the number of weekly cases rose from 367 to 814 between the seven days leading up to December 10 and the following week.
This meant the town's weekly rate increased from 396.1 new cases per 100,000 people to 878.5 new cases per 100,000 population - a rise of 121.8 per cent, giving Hastings the 13th highest figure in England.
The figures, for the seven days to December 17, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).
The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
Data for the most recent four days (December 18-21) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.
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