There have now been nearly 700 cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant recorded in Derbyshire, up from around 400 last week.

It comes as Derbyshire's public health director says the Delta variant now accounts for in excess of 90 per cent of all new Covid cases in the county.

The Delta variant of Covid-19, which originated in India, is much more transmissible – spreads quicker – and is more likely to result in hospitalisation.

New Public Health England data, up to June 23, shows there have now been 695 cases of the Delta strain recorded in Derbyshire, up from 429 in the previous week, rising significantly in every district.

This does show that the figures are no longer doubling, but are still increasing rapidly, as has been seen by Dean Wallace, Derbyshire County Council’s public health director.

The High Peak continues to be home to the largest proportion of Delta cases, with an outbreak centred in Glossopdale and linked to infections which have spread from Greater Manchester.

Delta cases in the High Peak have increased to 242, up from 182 the week before.

Here is the breakdown of Delta Covid-19 cases for the remaining districts:

North East Derbyshire – 66 cases, up from 29

Chesterfield – 58 cases, up from 27

Erewash – 55 cases, up from 37

South Derbyshire – 53 cases, up from 44

Derbyshire Dales – 44 cases, up from 31

Amber Valley – 38 cases, up from 12

Bolsover – 36 cases, up from 10

Earlier this week, Mr Wallace told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that “if left unmitigated” the variant cases would reach those who have been vaccinated and due to no vaccine being 100 per cent effective, eventually, those most at risk would fall ill.

He said: “If we don’t get enough of us vaccinated then we could end up with a variant that is more resistant to the vaccines, the risk of variants grows and that could scupper things big time.”

Meanwhile, Dr Drew Smith, a Derby GP and the clinical director of the Derby City GP vaccination programme, said: “It has always been about vaccinating the population as quickly and safely as possible in order to prevent not just the spread of variants but the development of variants.”

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