The areas in Dorset with the highest Covid rates and cases

Where once there were areas with dozens of cases each, there is now only one place in the whole county with more than 24 cases and many places have fewer than 20 cases in total.

Public Health Dorset said on Friday that the BCP area now has a rate people below the England average.

An interactive map on the government website shows there is only one area in the whole of Dorset which is considered a Covid ‘hotspot’.

• Read more: The latest localised Dorset and New Forest deaths since March

​In the seven days to February 21, Underhill & The Grove recorded a total of 54 cases and a rate of 893.6

On Friday, the Echo reported that there had been a major rise in the number of cases at The Verne Prison on Portland.

The map colour-codes MSOAs depending on their seven-day rolling rate, with areas placed into the boundaries of 0-10, 11-50, 51-100, 101-200, 201-400, 400 to 799 and 800 plus.

Places with a high MSOA rate appear on the map in purple (400 to 799) or dark purple (800 plus).

The country is split up by Middle Super Output Area (MSOA), which are small areas with an average population of 7,200, and the data is updated every weekday, with the map showing the last seven days for which complete data is available.

• Read more: Coronavirus R Rate for South West and Dorset falls below national figure

Here are the areas in Dorset that recorded the highest number of cases in week to February 21: 

Underhill & The Grove – 54 cases, rate 893.6

Central Bournemouth – 24 cases, rate 184.8

Queens Park – 23 cases, rate 265.4

East Cliff – 22 cases, rate 171.0

Newtown – 21 cases, rate 192.5

Poole Town – 18 cases, rate 151.0

Boscombe West – 18 cases, rate 169.1

Canford Heath East – 16 cases, rate 216.5

West Howe – 14 cases, rate 189.6

Branksome West – 14 cases, rate 185.4

Branksome East – 13 cases, rate 207.2

West Cliff – 13 cases, rate 164.0

Ferndown Town – 12 cases, rate 150.8

Oakdale East – 12 cases, rate 132.3

Weymouth Town, Melcombe Regis & Rodwell – 12 cases, rate 122.6

Springbourne & Queen's Park – 12 cases, rate 130.0

Sturminster Newton & Stalbridge – 12 cases, rate 117.5

Creekmoor – 11 cases, rate 120.2

The rate for the BCP area in the seven days to February 21, was 109.3 per 100,000 people.

During this period a total of 432 cases were confirmed which is a decrease of 29.5 per cent from 613 the previous week.

Meanwhile, the rate for the Dorset Council area was 75.0 with 284 cases confirmed.