YORK’S coronavirus rate is now worse than Selby’s, according to the latest figures.

A rolling seven-day rate of new cases of Covid-19 for every local authority area in England shows there were 55.6 cases per 100,000 population in the City of York Council area in the seven days to September 27.

That compares with 51.9 cases per 100,000 in the Selby District Council area over the same period.

The York figure is up from 43.7 cases per 100,000 in the week to September 20.

The statistics do not take account of the sharp rise in cases in York which were announced yesterday.

The figures support the suggestions by Fiona Phillips, York's assistant director of public health, that the city could be put on a Government watchlist as an 'area of concern' because of a rapid rise in cases.

Selby was put on the watchlist in early September when its rate was much worse than York's.

The figures are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).

The list has been calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on September 30 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.