The latest data on coronavirus infection rates suggested an increase in the proportion of people confirmed to have the disease in some South West London boroughs.

The most recent data on weekly infection rates for local authorities in England was revealed by Public Health England (PHE) on Friday (July 10).

It showed increases in the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 coronavirus per 100,000 people in the population in several boroughs of South West London, plus some local authorities in Surrey.

The data was calculated based on tests that have been carried out both in laboratories and in the wider community.

PHE excluded data for the most recent three days (July 8 to 10), meaning the figures showed the rate of new cases in the seven days to July 7.

It showed that the weekly number of people per 100,000 infected with Covid-19 had increased in Kingston from 2.3 to 3.4.

The weekly infection rate in neighbouring Richmond was also up from 1.5 to 2.0, and in Wandsworth the rate rose even more sharply, from 2.1 to 3.4 people confirmed positive for Covid-19 per 100,000 people.

Similarly in Lambeth the infection rate rose from 1.5 to 2.1.

In the boroughs in Surrey neighbouring South West London, meanwhile, rates of infection also increased in Epsom and Ewell, jumping from 1.3 to 5.0, and from 1.1 to 3.4 in Mole Valley.

Other areas of South West London reported drops in the rate of people infected with coroanvirus per 100,000 of the population.

In Croydon, for example, the infection rate fell from 2.9 to 1.8, while next door borough Sutton reported a more modest drop from 1.5 to 1.0.

Elsewhere the infection rate was also down in Merton from 3.9 to 2.9, and in Elmbridge from 4.4 to 2.2.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the UK has 287,625 confirmed cases of Covid-19 during the pandemic so far, with 44,602 related deaths, the most of any European country.

On Friday Director General of the WHO, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said the virus was still out of control "in most of the world" and that the global situation of the pandemic is “getting worse”.