BARROW is in the top ten areas with the highest rate of Covid-19 infections in England, according to the latest figures.

Public Health England figures revealed that Barrow recorded 430 new cases in the week ending September 28, which is 644 per 100,000 population.

Currently, the borough has the tenth highest Covid-19 rate in England.

Allerdale is the worst hit area of Cumbria with 680 new Covid cases recorded in the week ending September 28, giving the area a rate of 695 per 100,000 population.

Allerdale has the third highest infection rate in England, according to new figures.

Rates in South Lakeland are also on the rise, with 446 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in the week ending September 28, giving the area a case rate of 425.1 per 100,000.

This is a rise of 34.3 per cent from the previous week.

Overall, Cumbria recorded 2,559 new cases of Covid-19 in the past seven days which is 146 more than the previous week.

The average case rate in Cumbria is 512 per 100,000 which is still below the average rate in England of 627.4 per 100,000.

Colin Cox, Cumbria's Director of Public Health, said case rates in Barrow have been rising steadily since the beginning of August.

He said: "Barrow actually hasn’t had a sharp rise recently, indeed it’s levelled off a bit in the last 10 days or so.

"But it has been rising steadily since the beginning of August, and unlike Allerdale and Carlisle, hasn’t yet peaked and started to come down again."

Mr Cox emphasised the importance of parents monitoring coronavirus symptoms in children - which is the group recording the highest rates in the Barrow area.

He said: "Two key things – first the rates are highest in school age children, so it’s really important for parents to keep an eye out for symptoms, keep children off, and get tested if they’re poorly; second, we know there are parts of Barrow where vaccination rates are much lower than average – so please get vaccinated if you haven’t already."