Leicester’s rate of new Covid-19 cases has fallen from its recent peak, but is not declining steadily, the latest data suggests.

The equivalent of 115.4 cases per 100,000 people were detected in the seven days to July 9, according to the latest figures from NHS England.

This is down slightly on 119.9 cases per 100,000 people in the previous seven days to July 2.

Rolling data for the seven-day rate of new cases in the city shows a peak of 159.1 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to June 25.

Since then the seven-day rate has gone down, though it is not dropping steadily.

For example, the rate jumped from 115.1 for the seven days to July 4 to 127.5 for the seven days to July 5.

This kind of fluctuation in the figures could be due to the increased level of testing, which will be picking up more cases than would otherwise have been detected.

Leicester’s local lockdown was announced by Health Secretary Matt Hancock on the evening of June 29.

Lockdown restrictions were subsequently tightened in parts of the city and nearby suburbs, with non-essential shops ordered to close and people urged not to travel in or out of the area.

Oadby & Wigston, which is also included in the lockdown, has seen its rate fall from 63.1 in the seven days to June 25 to 31.5 in the seven days to July 9.

The latest figures are a snapshot based on the data currently available from Public Health England showing the number of people with coronavirus identified through an NHS lab (“pillar 1” of the Government’s testing programme) or from commercial swab testing (“pillar 2”).

The figures are updated and revised at the end of each day. Data for the most recent dates – July 10 to 12 – has been excluded from these calculations as it is incomplete and likely to change.