Hull left forgotten as Covid cases soar in city, council boss says

Hull has been “forgotten” by central government as the city’s coronavirus cases have increased at an “astonishing and terrifying rate” to become the highest in England, its council leader has said.

Stephen Brady of Hull city council said it needed urgent national support but had received no contact from the government.

The number of coronavirus patients in Hull’s hospitals has passed the peak of the first wave and its infection rate has risen tenfold in barely five weeks.

At 770 cases per 100,000 people it is nearly triple England’s average and far higher than other Covid-19 hotspots. A council spokeswoman said public health officials were warning that the peak in Hull – which has recorded 252 coronavirus deaths – is yet to come.