Latest coronavirus infection rates for Preston and South Ribble continue to show a rise as they include January figures for the first time.

New Covid-19 cases confirmed for Tuesday (5 January) were 80 new cases recorded for Preston.

South Ribble’s cases were up by 57 for the same day.

Fylde recorded 24 new cases, Wyre 59 and Ribble Valley recorded 43.

On infection rates, Preston is now at 316.5 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to January 1, up from 213.8 for the seven days to December 25.

South Ribble’s infection rate is now back above Preston’s, at 324, up from 165.2.

See the latest coronavirus cases and information for where you live

The infection rate data comes from Public Health England’s dashboard, and removes the last four days to then work out a rolling seven day average – as often cases are redistributed in terms of location.

Wyre’s infection rate is 335.4, up from 166.8 while in Fylde the rate is 256.3 up from 153.5.

Ribble Valley’s rate continues to rocket, now at 551.8 cases per 100,000 people, up from 321.9 for the previous seven day period.

Read more: What can and can’t open in Preston during lockdown 3

Prime Minister gives latest lockdown update as new figures show spread of the virus

New UK-wide Covid-19 cases topped 60,000 for the first time during Tuesday (5 January).

And the Office for National Statistics figures estimate 1.1million people in England, or one in 50 people, had Covid-19 between December 27 and January 2.

For the North West it was estimated one in 45 people had Covid for the week between Christmas and New Year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson led a press conference during Tuesday late afternoon to say he had ‘no choice’ but to put England back into lockdown.

He said: “I believe that when everybody looks at the position, people understand overwhelmingly that we have no choice.”

Senior cabinet minister Michael Gove said earlier on Tuesday it was likely the lockdown would ‘last until March’.

Read more: Preston BID react to chancellor’s grant funding to help businesses through third lockdown

Joined by Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, who said it is unlikely the virus will ‘disappear in the Spring’.

Prof Whitty said: “If we did not do all the things all of us must now do, if people don’t take the stay at home message seriously, the risk at this point in time, in the middle of winter with this new variant, is extraordinarily high.

Prof Whitty said the risk level will gradually decrease over time, with measures being “lifted by degrees possibly at different rates in different parts of the country, we’ll have to see”.

“We’ll then get over time to a point where people say this level of risk is one society is prepared to tolerate and lift right down to almost no restrictions at all,” he added.

“We might have to bring a few in next winter, for example, that is possible, because winter will benefit the virus.”

See the full press conference below

The Prime Minister also addressed school closures, saying he could not guarantee all children will be back in classrooms before the summer holidays.

Under the new national lockdown schools and colleges have moved to remote learning until mid-February when a review will take place of the measures.

Mr Johnson gave an update on the vaccine to say more than 1.3million people had been vaccinated against Covid-19 with 23 per cent of all over-80s in England now receiving the jab.

He also said the government would begin to publish information on a daily basis on the number of people vaccinated in each region.

See where Covid-19 vaccinations are taking place near you

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has made a call for ’round-the-clock’ vaccination schemes to be set up.

He said: “That means using this lockdown to establish a massive, immediate, and round-the-clock vaccination programme to deliver millions of doses a week by the end of the month in every village and town, every high street and every GP surgery.

“We need our businesses and public services working hand-in-hand for the common good. We need an army of volunteers and to use every resource at our disposal.

“This is now a race between the virus and the vaccine. And if we pull together as a nation, we can win.”

Mr Johnson said there by next week there would be 1,000 vaccination sites across the country.

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