A borough in Kent has the second highest Covid-19 infection rate in the country.

Swale, which is made up of Sittingbourne, the Isle of Sheppey and Faversham, now has 617 cases per 100,000 people, according to Kent County Council figures.

It is sandwiched between Hull which has a rate of 751.4 and Hartlepool on 590.4.

Thanet is the other Kent location high on the list, making its way into the top 15 highest rates with a total of 510.8.

It joins Swale as also being one of the areas with the highest week-on-week rates, with Swale jumping from 304.5 cases and Thanet rising from 324.1 cases.

In the seven days to November 14, Swale recorded 928 cases of coronavirus, while Thanet recorded 725 new cases.

Earlier Swale's council leader warned residents face a Christmas lockdown if they can't contain the virus.

Cllr Roger Truelove (Lab) said: “Unless we can level off the rate of growth in covid infections we risk a longer period of high-level restrictions beyond December 2.

"If we don’t do something to contain it, we risk spending Christmas in lockdown."

Schools across the county have been forced to shut for at least two weeks as they try to deal with the rising number of cases.

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