There was a rise in the coronavirus infection rate in most areas of Norfolk last week, but numbers remain low.

Norwich, Breckland, North Norfolk, Great Yarmouth and South Norfolk all saw the rate of people testing positive for the virus increase.

The biggest rise was in Norwich, which, with a rate of five cases per 100,000 people, had the highest infection rate in the county in the week from Sunday July 19 to July 26. In that time seven people tested positive, up from three the previous week.

To put that in context, Blackburn with Darwen had the highest rate in England last week of 87.3 per 100,000 people, the data from Public Health England shows.

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Last week 19 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Norfolk, an increase from 11 the week before.

In Breckland, the infection rate was 2.9 per 100,000 - up from 1.4 the previous week.

Meanwhile, in North Norfolk it rose from one to 1.9 and in south Norfolk the rate increased to 2.2 from 1.4.

In Great Yarmouth the rate per 100,000 went up from zero to one.

In Broadland it fell to 0.8 from 1.5 and in West Norfolk it remained steady at 0.7.

The numbers are still tiny compared to elsewhere in England.

In Oldham and Leicester, both areas recording broadly the same rate of 56 cases.

Diane Steiner, deputy director of public health for Norfolk County Council, said: “We continue to monitor the data very closely so that we can track any increases or trends.

“Overall numbers in the county remain low because people continue to follow public health measures, such as washing hands, keeping their distance from others and wearing a face covering in shops and on public transport.”

The total number of confirmed cases in Norfolk since the pandemic began is now 2,893. The figure for Suffolk is 2,679.

It comes as health secretary Matt Hancock warned on Thursday that a “second wave” was starting in Europe.

Mr Hancock said “we’ve got to do everything” to prevent it reaching the UK.