Rates of coronavirus infection in south east London continued to rise as the country entered its second weekend of extended freedoms.

In all but one of four boroughs, rates of infection increased in the latest recorded week, as gyms prepare to reopen on July 25 following salons today.

The rate is expressed as the new number of new cases per 100,000 population, based on the latest Public Health England figures, which are for the seven days to July 10.

The figures are based on tests that have been carried out both in laboratories (pillar one of the Government's testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

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Bexley continues to have the highest rate in south east London with 5.3, an increase from 3.2 the previous week. 

Greenwich has also seen an uptake in infection, recording 2.8 per 100,000, compared to 1.7 a week before.  

Lewisham followed this trend, showing a marginal increase, with 3.3 compared to 1.0. 

Only Bromley showed a decrease in cases, recording 1.8 compared to 2.1 the week before. 

In Leicester, the rate has fallen slightly from 117.7 in the seven days to July 3 to 114.3 in the seven days to July 10. It was 156.8 in the seven days to June 26.

Second on the list is Pendle, where the rate has gone up from 14.2 to 67.8. This has been caused by a spike in new cases recorded on July 6 and 7.

The jump in the rate for Herefordshire from 1.6 to 36.4 is due to 63 cases being recorded on July 9, linked to an outbreak on a farm near Worcester.

In more positive news nationally, the lowest number of deaths were reported today since mid-March.

The increase of 11 means that as of 5pm on July 12, 44,830 people have died in the UK after testing positive for Covid-19.