Sheffield now has the third highest coronavirus cases in England

Sheffield now has the third highest amount of confirmed coronavirus cases in England.

The latest Public Health England figures show that as of 5pm Monday the city has 428 cases and 13 deaths linked to the disease.

This is the most infections for any local authority in the country, except for Hampshire at 498 and Birmingham at 578.

In nearby cities, Liverpool has 197, Leeds 129, Manchester 109, and York has 30. Nationally, the UK’s Covid-19 death toll jumped to 1,408 and cases stand at 22,141.

However, Sheffield’s public health chief says the risk of contracting Covid-19 is “not necessarily” higher than other areas, and put it down to the city having the highest testing rates in the country bar the London boroughs Southwark and Lambeth.

Greg Fell, Director of Public Health for Sheffield, told Yorkshire Live: “Regardless of the current data, my advice is the same. Stay home, protect the NHS, save lives. This gives us the best chance of slowing the spread of this virus, not only protecting people, but relieving the strain on our vital NHS services.

“I understand that people may find the reported number of cases in Sheffield worrying, but the data is simply a reflection that there is more testing happening here currently than in some other areas and so by default we know about more positive cases. This doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s more chance of being infected here than other parts of Yorkshire.”

Public Health England guidance urges those with symptoms – a persistent cough or a high temperature – to self-isolate for 14 days.

It comes as Britain enters its second week on lockdown with people only allowed to leave the house for job, health or shopping essentials, or for local exercise once a day.

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