Covid infection rates in parts of Essex remain higher than the England average, while latest figures show all areas of Suffolk continue to drop.

Colchester and Tendring's infection rates remain above the England average of 194.02 cases per 100,000 people, for the seven days up to February 6.

The latest data for the northern parts of the county show that Tendring's infection rate, despite showing a steady decline, is still much greater than the England average.

Public Health England's data shows that in the seven days up to February 6, 234 people per 100,000 were infected with the virus - the highest infection rate in the county.

This is significantly lower than the 380.7 in the previous week, however in Uttlesford the rate is 120.5, 132.5 in Maldon and 176.9 in Braintree.

Colchester's rate is also higher than the national average, with 201.3 cases per 100,000 people, again down from 274.8 the week before.

Despite this, figures are far lower than the sky high heights of early January, when the country was plunged into lockdown and cases are continuing to decline.

Meanwhile, all areas of Suffolk are well below the England average, and infection rates have dropped to their lowest since December.

The lowest infection rate can be found in Babergh, where there were 73.9 cases per 100,000 people in the most recent data.

This is followed closely by Mid Suffolk, with 83.7 cases per 100,000 people. Both local authority areas dropped from above 100 cases in the previous week.

The highest infection rate remains in Ipswich, which had 168.7 cases per 100,000 people, which is still below the England average of 194.02.

West Suffolk and East Suffolk had 121.2 and 126.3 cases per 100,000 people.

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The figures, for the seven days to February 6, 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 (February 7-10) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 10 (3%) have seen a rise in case rates and 305 (97%) have seen a fall.