The Covid-19 case rates have skyrocketed in south east London in the past fortnight, reaching levels not seen for many months as the nation enjoys the end of lockdown restrictions.

The number of cases is well over a 1,000 per week in every borough in the region, with case rates contiuing on an upward trend following recent sharp rises.

Nationally, 98% of areas have seen a week-on-week rise in virus cases as the spread continues to grow

But with a large proportion of the country half or fully vaccinated, Monday July 19 saw all lockdown and social distancing restrictions end on a day earmarked as 'Freedom Day'.

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Nightclubs, theatres and more have finally been able to fully reopen, but health officials have expressed great concern about the rising number of cases.

The latest figures come from Public Health England, revealing the Covid-19 case rate for every local authority in England in the last week.

Wednesday's figures, accurate for the seven days to July 17, are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, by specimen date.

The Covid-19 rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

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In south east London, every borough has seen a rise in cases in the last week, and case rates are rising alarmingly high.

The highest rate in the region currently belongs to Southwark, breaking the 500 mark with 531.3.

This follow 1,694 new Covid-19 cases being recorded in the borough in the last seven days, causing its rate to rise sharply from 366.3 last week.

Bromley also boasts a dramatic increase from the week previous, with its Covid-19 rate rising from 282.8 to 508.8, with 1691 cases recorded.

Lewisham is close behind with a Covid-19 rate of 489.8, rising from 329.3 with 1,498 new cases recorded.

In Bexley, 1,197 new Covid-19 cases were found, causing the rate to nearly double from 247.7 to 482.1.

Greenwich currently has the lowest Covid-19 infection rate with 408.1, which is still a stark rise from 255.3 the week before, with 1,175 new cases found.

Nearby, Croydon has a rate of 420 (1,624 new cases), Dartford has a local high of 595.9 (671 cases) and Wandsworth has reached a whopping 656.1 with over 2,000 new cases (2,163).

Of the 315 local areas in England, 310 (98%) have seen a week-on-week rise in rates and five (2%) have seen a fall.

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Redcar & Cleveland continues to have the highest rate, with 2,163 new cases in the seven days to July 17 - the equivalent of 1,577.1 per 100,000 people.

This is up from 831.2 in the seven days to July 10.

Middlesbrough has the second highest rate, up from 905.8 to 1,394.5, with 1,966 new cases.

Stockton-on-Tees has the third highest rate, up from 677.0 to 1,198.4, with 2,365 new cases.

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency based on Public Health England data published on July 21 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard.