Rates of infection are now in stark contrast across south east London, although the number of new coronavirus cases has risen in every borough.

Whilst Lewisham continues to have the lowest Covid-19 rate in London, Bexley has continued its surge in cases, and now has an alarming rate of 282.7, the second highest in the capital.

The latest Public Health England statistics were released on Wednesday evening (November 18) for every local authority in England.

The figures show the Covid-19 rate for the past week, based on the number of new cases per 100,000 people living in the borough, and uses stats from tests carried out in laboratories and in the wider community.

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And despite the second lockdown, the majority of areas in England (229 out of 315) have seen a rise in cases, and the story is same in London (all bar one).

It's in Bexley where the rise in cases is the most alarming. 702 new cases were recorded in the borough over the past seven days, meaning it's rate is now 282.7.

This marks a significant rise from last week when it's rate was 217.1, and just at the start of the month Bexley's rate was in the low 100s along with Lewisham.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">COVID-19 case numbers are rising rapidly across Bexley. We must act now to control the spread of the virus. The single most important action we can all take to fight coronavirus is to stay at home, to protect the NHS and save lives.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KeepBexleysafe?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KeepBexleysafe</a><a href="https://t.co/1jDBpe3wea">https://t.co/1jDBpe3wea</a> <a href="https://t.co/PiJGa7o0Bl">pic.twitter.com/PiJGa7o0Bl</a></p>— LB Bexley (@LBofBexley) <a href="https://twitter.com/LBofBexley/status/1329348808531202055?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Now following suit, Greenwich has seen it's own surge in cases over the last week, with 509 new cases of Covid-19.

It's infection rate has jumped from 118.4 to 176.8, and officials will be hoping the borough doesn't continue rising as it has done in neighbouring Bexley.

Bromley also follows the worrying trend in south east London after it's Covid-19 rate rose from 114.3 seven days ago, to 158.6 today, a result of 527 new cases.

Lewisham is the only south east London reporting relatively low infection rates, currently the lowest in London, but even they have recorded a notable rise in cases.

Around 400 new cases were recorded in the past week, meaning Lewisham's rate has risen from 99.7 to 131.1.

Whilst far from the infection rates of Hull, currently the worst place in the country, the rises in south east London will be cause for worry ahead of the end of lockdown and the Christmas break.

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Nearby, Croydon is recording a Covid-19 rate of 159.0, Wandsworth 189.6 and Southwark 124.5.

Dartford has actually seen a massive spike in cases, even higher than in Bexley, and currently has a Covid-19 rate of 315. Havering currently has the highest infection rate in London with 370.6.

Currently no decision has been made by the Government about what will happen on December 2 when the second lockdown is scheduled to end.

Positive news has come in from across the world this week of numerous vaccines offering 90-95% effectiveness, but for now rising infection rates will worry officials.

Hull continues to have the highest rate in England, with 1,952 new cases recorded in the seven days to November 14 - the equivalent of 751.4 cases per 100,000 people.

Swale in Kent has the second highest rate, up sharply from 304.5 to 618.3, with 928 new cases.

Hartlepool is in third place, where the rate has risen from 418.5 to 590.4, with 553 new cases.

Swale had the biggest week-on-week jump in rates, followed by Boston (up from 246.5 to 478.8, with 336 new cases); East Lindsey (up from 360.6 to 567.3, with 804 new cases); and Thanet (up from 324.1 to 510.8, with 725 new cases).

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency, based on Public Health England data published on November 18 on the Government's coronavirus dashboard.