Central and Eastern European countries have been hardest hit by the latest wave of infections. It prompted Austria to invoke tough new lockdown measures in a bid to get the virus under control. The EU’s average rate of new Covid cases has quadrupled in recent weeks, with more than 110 daily new cases per one million people reported on October 1, compared with a massive 446 on November 18. But how exactly does the UK compare?

       Europe is at the epicentre of the Covid pandemic once again with a surge in new infections sweeping across the continent.

       The rise in cases has forced many nations to reinforce Covid restrictions as these countries attempt to save lives and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed.

       Austria will soon become the first European country to go back into full lockdown - after rolling out a non-vaccinated full lockdown across the country on Monday.

       The nation will also be the first country to make Covid jabs mandatory for all natives.

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       The Austrian Chancellor announced the full lockdown today, saying it was due to start on Monday and would last a maximum of 20 days.

       Alexander Schallenberg said it will be a legal requirement to get the Covid vaccine from February 1, 2022.

       He said the nation was implementing the tough measures in response to the record number of cases and the fact Austria has one of the lowest vaccination rates in Western Europe.

       Mr Schallenberg said: “This is not easy for us, but in view of the number of infections we have to take such measures.

       “It hurts me to have to impose any restrictions.”

       He added the country wants to avoid a “fifth wave”.

       The UK’s current rate per 100,000 people is 403.1, according to the Government’s Covid dashboard.

       Relative to population, the seven-day rolling average of daily new confirmed cases in the UK per one million population stands at 580.74, Our World in Data revealed.

       This makes the UK the 16th highest nation when ranked against the 27 EU member states.

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       Slovakia is the EU nation with the highest daily confirmed cases rate.

       The figure in the country stands at 1,642.72 per one million people, which is a rise of 897,560 percent compared to March 1, 2020.

       The second and third highest case rates, as of November 18, were Slovenia and Austria, where rates stood at 1,581.19 and 1,395.15 per one million, respectively.

       Croatia, Belgium and the Czech Republic were next highest where case rates stand at 1,275.15,1,184.51 and 1,170.14 per one million people.

       The rates for the other EU nations are as follows (ranked from highest to lowest):