Reading, Wokingham Borough and Windsor and Maidenhead see Covid rates soar

Half of the areas that make up Berkshire now have coronavirus infection rates above 800 per 100,000 - the latest figures reveal.

Data released by Public Health England shows three of the six unitary authorities in the county are now over that threshold, as speculation continues to mount over further measures to tackle the Omicron Covid-19 variant in the UK.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead continues to have the highest infection rate in the county, and one of the highest outside London.

Reading and Wokingham Borough are the two other areas with infection rates over 800.

At the other end of the scale, Slough currently has the lowest coronavirus infection rate in the county.

Coronavirus infection rates per 100,000 people for each Berkshire Unitary Authority according to figures released by Public Health England on Sunday (December 19) (and new cases in seven days until December 14):

Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead: 859.4 (1,300 new cases)

Reading: 855.7 (1,372 new cases)

Wokingham Borough: 850.3 (1,479 new cases)

Bracknell Forest: 787.7 (978 new cases)

West Berkshire : 665.5 (1,055 new cases)

Slough : 567.6 (849 new cases)

Ministers have reportedly pushed back against calls from scientific advisers for new measures to tackle the Omicron variant before Christmas.

Confirmed cases of the faster-spreading strain have risen by more than 12,000 in the UK – and London’s cases alone topped 10,000, according to the latest data on Sunday.

But around one third of the Cabinet are said to be reluctant to support new restrictions in the coming days, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak among them, according to The Times.