Things are looking pretty grim in terms of Covid-19 in England. But there are some areas that are doing well. This page seeks to highlight local authorities that are navigating better than others through the Covid-19 second wave. Perhaps there are things we can learn from them.

See the source code is available on Github if you want to look at this and other analyses, including analyses of the Covid-19 case data in England in areas that aren’t doing so well. The data on this page is from https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/downloads/csv/coronavirus-cases_latest.csv and reports “lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 PCR test on or up to the specimen date”. The specimen date is the date that someone had the test taken. The government site has more details about the meaning of case numbers.

These awards are based on data updated on November 28 but the awards will be based on data since November 23 because it can take a number of days to process the test and to report the result.

The figures we’re going to give awards for are based on a rolling seven day average of figures from the previous week.

When we compare local authorities, we need to bear in mind that different local authorities have different sizes. A small absolute number of cases in a large local authority is a greater achievement than that number of cases in a smaller local authority, because it means a smaller percentage of the population are affected.

So we need to calculate infection rates. To do that, we’re using population data from the ONS and calculating rates per 100,000 people.

National awards

The following are the awards across the whole of England.

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : Isle of Wight

2nd : Worthing

3rd : South Hams

Top 10

  1. Isle of Wight
  2. Worthing
  3. South Hams
  4. Mid Suffolk
  5. Cotswold
  6. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
  7. Adur
  8. West Suffolk
  9. South Cambridgeshire
  10. Dorset

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : Cotswold

2nd : South Hams

3rd : New Forest

Top 10

  1. Cotswold
  2. South Hams
  3. New Forest
  4. Worthing
  5. Arun
  6. Bath and North East Somerset
  7. Southampton
  8. Brighton and Hove
  9. Adur
  10. Torbay

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : Nottingham

2nd : Liverpool

3rd : Knowsley

Top 10

  1. Nottingham
  2. Liverpool
  3. Knowsley
  4. Lancaster
  5. York
  6. West Lancashire
  7. Exeter
  8. Sefton
  9. Newcastle upon Tyne
  10. Manchester

Awards within different deprivation levels

I’m also splitting local authorities into five different categories based on the Indices of Deprivation from 2019, which provide a measure of how deprived areas are, and giving awards within these categories.

Highest quintile of deprivation

Barking and Dagenham | Barnsley | Barrow-in-Furness | Birmingham | Blackburn with Darwen | Blackpool | Bolton | Bradford | Burnley | County Durham | Doncaster | East Lindsey | Gateshead | Great Yarmouth | Hackney and City of London | Halton | Haringey | Hartlepool | Hastings | Hyndburn | Islington | Kingston upon Hull, City of | Knowsley | Leeds | Leicester | Lewisham | Lincoln | Liverpool | Manchester | Mansfield | Middlesbrough | Newcastle upon Tyne | Newham | North East Lincolnshire | Norwich | Nottingham | Oldham | Pendle | Peterborough | Portsmouth | Preston | Redcar and Cleveland | Rochdale | Rotherham | Salford | Sandwell | Sefton | Sheffield | South Tyneside | Southampton | St. Helens | Stoke-on-Trent | Sunderland | Swale | Tameside | Tendring | Thanet | Torbay | Tower Hamlets | Wakefield | Walsall | Wirral | Wolverhampton

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to go to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : Tendring

2nd : Great Yarmouth

3rd : Barrow-in-Furness

Top 10
  1. Tendring
  2. Great Yarmouth
  3. Barrow-in-Furness
  4. Torbay
  5. Hastings
  6. Lewisham
  7. Southampton
  8. Wirral
  9. Islington
  10. Haringey

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : Southampton

2nd : Torbay

3rd : Barrow-in-Furness

Top 10
  1. Southampton
  2. Torbay
  3. Barrow-in-Furness
  4. Great Yarmouth
  5. Salford
  6. Redcar and Cleveland
  7. Sefton
  8. Tameside
  9. Portsmouth
  10. Hartlepool

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : Nottingham

2nd : Liverpool

3rd : Knowsley

Top 10
  1. Nottingham
  2. Liverpool
  3. Knowsley
  4. Sefton
  5. Newcastle upon Tyne
  6. Manchester
  7. Barrow-in-Furness
  8. Salford
  9. Wirral
  10. St. Helens

Second highest quintile of deprivation

Allerdale | Ashfield | Basildon | Bassetlaw | Bolsover | Boston | Brent | Bristol, City of | Bury | Calderdale | Carlisle | Chesterfield | Copeland | Corby | Cornwall and Isles of Scilly | Coventry | Croydon | Darlington | Derby | Dover | Dudley | Ealing | Eastbourne | Enfield | Fenland | Folkestone and Hythe | Gloucester | Gravesham | Greenwich | Hammersmith and Fulham | Harlow | Havant | Hounslow | Ipswich | Isle of Wight | Kensington and Chelsea | King’s Lynn and West Norfolk | Kirklees | Lambeth | Lancaster | Luton | Medway | North Lincolnshire | North Norfolk | North Tyneside | Northampton | Northumberland | Nuneaton and Bedworth | Plymouth | Redditch | Rossendale | Scarborough | Sedgemoor | Slough | Southend-on-Sea | Southwark | Stockton-on-Tees | Tamworth | Telford and Wrekin | Torridge | Waltham Forest | Wellingborough | Wigan | Wyre Forest

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to go to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : Isle of Wight

2nd : Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

3rd : North Norfolk

Top 10
  1. Isle of Wight
  2. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
  3. North Norfolk
  4. Allerdale
  5. Copeland
  6. Torridge
  7. Southwark
  8. Lancaster
  9. Plymouth
  10. King’s Lynn and West Norfolk

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : Isle of Wight

2nd : Allerdale

3rd : Chesterfield

Top 10
  1. Isle of Wight
  2. Allerdale
  3. Chesterfield
  4. Plymouth
  5. Copeland
  6. Bristol, City of
  7. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
  8. Redditch
  9. Scarborough
  10. Calderdale

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : Lancaster

2nd : Copeland

3rd : Chesterfield

Top 10
  1. Lancaster
  2. Copeland
  3. Chesterfield
  4. Wigan
  5. Scarborough
  6. Rossendale
  7. Allerdale
  8. Plymouth
  9. Bury
  10. Isle of Wight

Middle quintile of deprivation

Adur | Amber Valley | Arun | Ashford | Barnet | Bedford | Bexley | Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | Breckland | Brighton and Hove | Broxbourne | Camden | Cannock Chase | Canterbury | Castle Point | Cheshire West and Chester | Chorley | Colchester | Crawley | Dartford | East Staffordshire | East Suffolk | Eden | Erewash | Exeter | Forest of Dean | Gosport | Havering | Herefordshire, County of | Hillingdon | Kettering | Maidstone | Mendip | Mid Devon | Milton Keynes | Newark and Sherwood | Newcastle-under-Lyme | North Devon | North East Derbyshire | North Warwickshire | Oxford | Reading | Redbridge | Rother | Shropshire | Solihull | Somerset West and Taunton | South Holland | South Somerset | Stevenage | Stockport | Swindon | Thurrock | Wandsworth | Warrington | West Devon | West Lancashire | West Lindsey | West Suffolk | Westminster | Worcester | Worthing | Wyre

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to go to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : Worthing

2nd : Adur

3rd : West Suffolk

Top 10
  1. Worthing
  2. Adur
  3. West Suffolk
  4. Arun
  5. East Suffolk
  6. Breckland
  7. Brighton and Hove
  8. Somerset West and Taunton
  9. Colchester
  10. Mid Devon

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : Worthing

2nd : Arun

3rd : Brighton and Hove

Top 10
  1. Worthing
  2. Arun
  3. Brighton and Hove
  4. Adur
  5. Eden
  6. Cheshire West and Chester
  7. Stevenage
  8. Gosport
  9. Erewash
  10. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : West Lancashire

2nd : Exeter

3rd : Wyre

Top 10
  1. West Lancashire
  2. Exeter
  3. Wyre
  4. Breckland
  5. Brighton and Hove
  6. Eden
  7. Warrington
  8. Worthing
  9. Stockport
  10. Arun

Second lowest quintile of deprivation

Babergh | Basingstoke and Deane | Braintree | Bromley | Broxtowe | Cambridge | Central Bedfordshire | Charnwood | Chelmsford | Cheltenham | Cherwell | Cheshire East | Chichester | Craven | Dacorum | Daventry | Dorset | East Devon | East Northamptonshire | East Riding of Yorkshire | Epping Forest | Fylde | Gedling | Harrow | Hertsmere | High Peak | Hinckley and Bosworth | Huntingdonshire | Lewes | Lichfield | Maldon | Malvern Hills | Melton | Merton | Mid Suffolk | New Forest | North Somerset | North West Leicestershire | Oadby and Wigston | Rugby | Rushmoor | Ryedale | Selby | Sevenoaks | South Derbyshire | South Hams | South Kesteven | South Lakeland | South Norfolk | South Ribble | South Staffordshire | Spelthorne | Stafford | Staffordshire Moorlands | Sutton | Teignbridge | Tonbridge and Malling | Trafford | Watford | Wealden | Welwyn Hatfield | Wiltshire | Wychavon

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to go to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : South Hams

2nd : Mid Suffolk

3rd : Dorset

Top 10
  1. South Hams
  2. Mid Suffolk
  3. Dorset
  4. Teignbridge
  5. New Forest
  6. Huntingdonshire
  7. Maldon
  8. Central Bedfordshire
  9. Lewes
  10. Basingstoke and Deane

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : South Hams

2nd : New Forest

3rd : Cambridge

Top 10
  1. South Hams
  2. New Forest
  3. Cambridge
  4. Hinckley and Bosworth
  5. Trafford
  6. Charnwood
  7. Dorset
  8. Daventry
  9. Staffordshire Moorlands
  10. Basingstoke and Deane

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : Charnwood

2nd : Cambridge

3rd : Trafford

Top 10
  1. Charnwood
  2. Cambridge
  3. Trafford
  4. Broxtowe
  5. New Forest
  6. Gedling
  7. South Hams
  8. Daventry
  9. High Peak
  10. East Northamptonshire

Lowest quintile of deprivation (least deprived)

Aylesbury Vale | Bath and North East Somerset | Blaby | Bracknell Forest | Brentwood | Broadland | Bromsgrove | Chiltern | Cotswold | Derbyshire Dales | East Cambridgeshire | East Hampshire | East Hertfordshire | Eastleigh | Elmbridge | Epsom and Ewell | Fareham | Guildford | Hambleton | Harborough | Harrogate | Hart | Horsham | Kingston upon Thames | Mid Sussex | Mole Valley | North Hertfordshire | North Kesteven | Reigate and Banstead | Ribble Valley | Richmond upon Thames | Richmondshire | Rochford | Runnymede | Rushcliffe | Rutland | South Bucks | South Cambridgeshire | South Gloucestershire | South Northamptonshire | South Oxfordshire | St Albans | Stratford-on-Avon | Stroud | Surrey Heath | Tandridge | Test Valley | Tewkesbury | Three Rivers | Tunbridge Wells | Uttlesford | Vale of White Horse | Warwick | Waverley | West Berkshire | West Oxfordshire | Winchester | Windsor and Maidenhead | Woking | Wokingham | Wycombe | York

Lowest daily rate

This set of awards is going to go to the areas that had the lowest average daily rates of cases per 100,000 population on November 23. These are:

1st : Cotswold

2nd : South Cambridgeshire

3rd : West Oxfordshire

Top 10
  1. Cotswold
  2. South Cambridgeshire
  3. West Oxfordshire
  4. Hart
  5. South Oxfordshire
  6. Bracknell Forest
  7. Vale of White Horse
  8. West Berkshire
  9. Eastleigh
  10. Rutland

Most improved in last week

Arguably a better way of awarding local authority areas is by how much they are improving. This set of awards go to those places that have improved the most over in the week up to November 23. These are:

1st : Cotswold

2nd : Bath and North East Somerset

3rd : Winchester

Top 10
  1. Cotswold
  2. Bath and North East Somerset
  3. Winchester
  4. South Oxfordshire
  5. Bracknell Forest
  6. South Cambridgeshire
  7. Harrogate
  8. Rutland
  9. South Gloucestershire
  10. Vale of White Horse

Most improved since 2nd wave peak

Our final set of awards go to those places that have improved the most since their 2nd wave peak. These are:

1st : York

2nd : Cotswold

3rd : Ribble Valley

Top 10
  1. York
  2. Cotswold
  3. Ribble Valley
  4. Rushcliffe
  5. Bath and North East Somerset
  6. Mole Valley
  7. Harrogate
  8. West Oxfordshire
  9. Eastleigh
  10. South Oxfordshire