Plymouth in top three Covid hotspots in South West - See the full list

The figures, for the seven days to September 4, 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.

UK hospital patients with Covid-19: second wave v third wave. (PA)

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

Data for the most recent four days (September 5-8) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 377 local areas in the UK, 276 (73%) have seen a week-on-week rise in rates, 100 (27%) have seen a fall and one is unchanged.

The highest rates are all in Scotland.

The latest Covid-19 cases in South-west of England

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency using data published on September 8 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

It reads, from left to right: name of local authority; nation or region of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to September 4; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to September 4; rate of new cases in the seven days to August 28; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 28.

• Swindon, South-west England, 456.3, (1017), 364.3, (812)
• Plymouth, South-west England, 434.5, (1142), 524.7, (1379)
• Sedgemoor, South-west England, 423.7, (523), 530.6, (655)
• Stroud, South-west England, 421.0, (509), 354.8, (429)
• Torbay, South-west England, 396.4, (540), 451.5, (615)
• Bristol, South-west England, 394.5, (1838), 409.6, (1908)
• Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, South-west England, 383.0, (2204), 510.8, (2940)
• South Hams, South-west England, 382.1, (336), 407.1, (358)
• North Somerset, South-west England, 373.0, (804), 341.0, (735)
• Mid Devon, South-west England, 371.0, (309), 449.0, (374)
• East Devon, South-west England, 366.7, (543), 385.6, (571)
• South Somerset, South-west England, 364.6, (615), 336.7, (568)
• Bath and North East Somerset, South-west England, 360.1, (707), 350.4, (688)
• Mendip, South-west England, 359.5, (418), 334.5, (389)
• Wiltshire, South-west England, 358.5, (1807), 329.1, (1659)
• Forest of Dean, South-west England, 357.0, (311), 262.9, (229)
• Cotswold, South-west England, 345.7, (312), 265.9, (240)
• Gloucester, South-west England, 343.1, (445), 287.6, (373)
• South Gloucestershire, South-west England, 342.6, (986), 393.3, (1132)
• Exeter, South-west England, 338.3, (451), 385.5, (514)
• North Devon, South-west England, 338.2, (332), 388.1, (381)
• Cheltenham, South-west England, 329.2, (382), 334.4, (388)
• West Devon, South-west England, 327.8, (184), 388.3, (218)
• Somerset West and Taunton, South-west England, 322.4, (501), 360.3, (560)
• Dorset, South-west England, 321.0, (1219), 288.6, (1096)
• Teignbridge, South-west England, 318.4, (430), 423.6, (572)
• Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, South-west England, 298.2, (1184), 312.1, (1239)
• Tewkesbury, South-west England, 295.0, (285), 283.6, (274)
• Torridge, South-west England, 276.5, (190), 400.2, (275)

What are the top findings for the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland?

North Lanarkshire continues to have the highest rate in the UK, with 4,262 new cases in the seven days to September 4 – the equivalent of 1,249.3 per 100,000 people.

This is up slightly from 1,230.9 in the seven days to August 28.

Cumulative Covid-19 deaths in the UK. (PA)

Inverclyde has the second highest rate, up from 1,117.3 to 1,226.3, with 945 new cases.

West Dunbartonshire has the third highest rate, up from 1,144.4 to 1,211.2, with 1,070 new cases.

Merthyr Tydfil has the highest rate in Wales (797.7), Derry City & Strabane has the highest rate in Northern Ireland (733.9), and Corby has the highest rate in England (622.8).

The five UK areas with the biggest week-on-week rises are:

• Merthyr Tydfil (up from 562.7 to 797.7)
• Carmarthenshire (400.4 to 635.0)
• Clackmannanshire (727.2 to 945.6)
• Fife (549.5 to 750.8)
• Midlothian (677.4 to 870.6)