Map shows how coronavirus rates have soared in Sussex

The weekly infection rate increased in all areas of the county between December 4 and the most recent complete figures from January 8.

The maps are created by the government using Public Health England data to show the parts of the UK with the highest concentration of new Covid-19 cases.

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This is determined through their weekly rate, expressed as the number of new cases in a week per 100,000 people

The maps are split into Middle Layer Super Output Areas (MSOA) - a geographic hierarchy designed to improve the reporting of small area statistics in England and Wales, with each area having a minimum population of 5,000 and a maximum population of 7,200, and are updated daily.

Slide the centre circle from left to right to see each map in full, and the stark differences between the two.

Areas with higher numbers of weekly cases in relation to their populations are shaded in darker colours.

Meanwhile areas where few Covid-19 cases are present will be coloured in lighter colours.

The map on the left shows the coronavirus rates in Sussex during the week leading up to December 4, when England had just exited a second, four-week long national lockdown.

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The majority of the county has a weekly coronavirus rate of less than 100 new weekly cases, with some MSOA even left white.

This meant there were less than three cases in that area, so the data is not shown on the map "to protect individuals' identities".

The highest weekly coronavirus rate in the county at this time was recorded in Bexhill East and Pebsham, where there were 351.3 new cases per 100,000 population.

A key showing how different MSOA are shaded depending on their weekly coronavirus rate

However, fast forward just over a month and there is a very different picture. This comes after the identification of a new, more transmissible strain of Covid-19 in the South East.

The map on the right shows the weekly coronavirus rates in Sussex for the week leading up to January 8 - the most recent complete figures.

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Almost all MSOA in the county have a weekly rate of more than 400 new cases per 100,000 population.

The highest weekly rate in Sussex is in Upperton, Eastbourne, with 1,834.1 new weekly cases per 100,000 population.

The highest weekly rate in Brighton and Hove is found in Bevendean and Moulsecoomb East, with 1,255.6 new weekly cases per 100,000 population.