THE Selby district now has the highest Coronavirus infection rate in the UK, according to the latest data.

Public Health England said today that the district, which borders York, had a rolling seven day rate of 111.5 cases per 100,000 population in the week to April 22 after 111 cases were confirmed.

The next highest rates were 102.5 in Derry City and Strabane and 69.1 in Kirklees and the average for England was 25.2.

In Selby Town, the rate had rocketed to 438.5 per 100,000 people, after 59 cases were confirmed in the week.

The Selby district’s rate rise is connected to an outbreak at Clipper Logistics in Selby.

Louise Wallace, North Yorkshire’s Director of Public Health, said on Monday that local infection rates would appear higher and show a short term increase following the outbreak, before they started to drop again.

She said the outbreak only served to highlight that Covid-19 was still circulating among the population and showed how easily the rate could spike.