Sussex area recorded just two new coronavirus cases in a week

Rother had the second lowest coronavirus rate in England in the week leading up to April 9, with 2.1 new cases recorded per 100,000 population.

Only North Devon had a lower rate, with the district being the only local authority area to report no new cases.

Rother was not alone in reporting a very low number of new Covid-19 cases, with all areas in Sussex having rates of less than 30 cases per 100,000 population.

Hastings has recorded one of the lowest coronavirus rates in England, Public Health England figures show

Only three people tested positive in Hastings between April 2 and April 9, while just seven cases were identified in the Lewes area during this time.

These low figures come despite a loosening of lockdown rules on March 29, with groups of up to six people or two households of any size allowed to meet outdoors.

Below is a list of the latest Covid-19 figures for all local authority areas in Sussex.

From left to right, it reads: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to April 9; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to April 9; rate of new cases in the seven days to April 2; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to April 2.

• Arun, 26.7, (43), 21.8, (35)
• Adur, 18.7, (12), 17.1, (11)
• Worthing, 14.5, (16), 20.8, (23)
• Crawley, 14.2, (16), 24.9, (28)
• Brighton and Hove, 11.7, (34), 15.5, (45)
• Eastbourne, 11.6, (12), 30.8, (32)
• Chichester, 11.6, (14), 20.6, (25)
• Horsham, 9.7, (14), 12.5, (18)
• Mid Sussex, 9.3, (14), 11.9, (18)
• Wealden, 6.8, (11), 21.1, (34)
• Lewes, 6.8, (7), 13.6, (14)
• Hastings, 3.2, (3), 6.5, (6)
• Rother, 2.1, (2), 8.3, (8)

Of the 315 local areas in England, 40 (13 per cent) have seen a rise in case rates, 264 (84 per cent) have seen a fall and 11 are unchanged.

Mansfield in Nottinghamshire has the highest rate in England, with 108 new cases recorded in the seven days to April 9, the equivalent of 98.8 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up from 97 per 100,000 in the seven days to April 2.

Corby in Northamptonshire has the second highest rate, down from 145.4 to 96.9, with 70 new cases.

Barnsley has the third highest rate, down from 109.8 to 87.5, with 216 new cases.

The five areas with the biggest week-on-week rise are:

• Ryedale (up from 3.6 to 23.5)

• Copeland (16.1 to 30.8)

• South Ribble (37.0 to 46.9)

• Isle of Wight (12.0 to 20.5)

• East Riding of Yorkshire (34.6 to 42.2)

Visitors enjoy a sunny day on Brighton seafront on March 29, the day lockdown restrictions in England were eased further Credit: Simon Dack

The figures, for the seven days to April 9, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

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

Data for the most recent four days (April 10-13) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.