NINETEEN out of 20 areas under local lockdown in England have suffered huge increases in known Covid-19 infections since the restrictions were imposed, Labour analysis revealed today.

At Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer called on PM Boris Johnson to tell locked-down communities what he thinks the “central problem” behind the rise in reported cases might be.

Restrictions first came into force in Wigan, now in its second local lockdown, on July 30. Since then the town’s case count has increased by nearly 38 times — from just six in 100,000 people when restrictions first came into force to 225 known cases per 100,000 now.