The Covid-19 infection rates in Epping Forest and Harlow have almost doubled in the last week and are at their highest points in more than three months.

Between June 11 – 18 there were 74 new infections recorded in Epping Forest equating an infection rate of 56.2 – expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.

The week before the rate had stood at 29.6 after 39 new cases were posted.

The infection rate, now at its highest point since the first week of March, is being driven up by the now dominant Delta strain, first identified in India, rising rapidly across England.

Public Health England figures show 51 cases of the Delta variant had been recorded in Epping Forest by June 16, but this number is expected to have grown in recent days.

In Harlow, the situation is similar. In the seven days to June 18 the rate of infection was recorded as 55.1 – the town’s highest since March 23 – after 48 new cases were reported.

In the seven days to June 11 the rate was 21.8 with only 19 cases recorded over the period.

Of the 315 local areas in England, 85 per cent have seen a rise in rates – however, hospitalisations and deaths have yet to surge, seemingly displaying the efficacy of vaccinations.

The last coronavirus patient to die while in the care of the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust, which serves both Harlow and Epping Forest, was on May 30 – one of two deaths recorded across the whole month.

The Daily Mail has reported a Cabinet source said “the link between cases and deaths is broken.”

“It’s all over, even if not everyone in Government has realised it yet,’ the source said,” said the source. “The link between cases and deaths is broken. We know that double jabs work to protect people.”

However, a NHS survey of trust leaders found that 78 per cent are extremely or moderately concerned about the operational pressures their trust will face this winter.

Some said the squeeze will depend on how much flu and Covid-19 is circulating, while others said they were already seeing an increase in demand for urgent and emergency care.

Some 88 per cent said it was likely that another surge in Covid-19 cases in this financial year will result in extra pressure.