A top doctor has likened rising coronavirus infections in hotspot areas such as Leeds to “volcanoes ready to explode” and spread disease across the country.
The city has been included in a ‘third wave COVID watchlist’, published on the Zoe Covid Study app.
The list includes 20 local authority areas with the highest estimates of active coronavirus cases in the week to May 23.
Leeds was fourth on the list, with an estimated prevalence rate of 381 new cases per 100,000 people. And a top doctor has today warned areas across the country where infections are continuing to rise resemble “mini-Covid volcanoes” which could ” send a massive gas plume across much more of the UK”.
It comes as talks continue amid growing fears that the planned easing of restrictions on June 21 – dubbed Freedom Day – could be delayed due to rising infections, believed to be fuelled by the Indian variant.