The coronavirus pandemic is far from over. But there are finally some glimmers of hope as the latest NHS data shows case rates are falling. According to the Government dashboard, a total of 222,405 people have tested positive in the last seven days - down 50,070 (or 18.4 percent). The graph also shows that 30,597 people returned a positive result in the last 24 hours.

       Overall the number of people testing positive for Covid in the UK still remains high.

       Many Brits hoped we were seeing the virus off, as the average number of daily confirmed cases began to drop off towards the end of July.

       But August and September saw cases climb once more - a worrying upwards trend in cases that has been attributed to the Delta variant.

       This contagious variant spreads faster than the Alpha variant, which used to be the most common variant in the UK.

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       The Delta variant is now the most dominant and had been driving up the daily case numbers.

       But case rates vary considerably throughout the UK, with some areas experiencing worrying hotspots, while others have seen cases plummet.

       Some parts of the UK have seen a welcome fall in Covid case rates over the last seven days to September 10.

       Here are the five areas which recorded the greatest fall in case rates according to the latest Government data:

       At the moment England is experiencing the lowest Covid rates out of all the countries within the UK.

       Most English regions have a case rate between 200 - 399 per 100,000 people for the seven day period until September 10.

       All of Northern Ireland is experiencing high levels of Covid infections.

       Every region in the country has a case rate between 400 - 799 per 100,000.

       Wales is also struggling with high Covid cases, as the vast majority of its regions mirror Northern Ireland’s high case rates.

       Scotland isn’t faring much better, in fact, it is the only country to see hotspots where case rates are above 800.

       A staggering 14 regions of Scotland have hot spots where case rates have spiked to over 800 per 100,000.

       The latest daily figure for new Covid cases recorded across the UK is 30,597 according to Government data.

       This brings the total number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK to 7,312,683.

       Tragically more than 134,000 have died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus