Seven out of 13 areas in Kent have seen a fall in cases, according to Public Health England data.

Cases have more than doubled across the county since the national lockdown started, but MPs remain divided over whether the blanket tier three rules coming into place at midnight are the right strategy.

The lockdown has slowed the county's second wave, but Kent and Medway are in a much worse spot now than when restrictions were put in place on November 5.

The week ending November 5 saw 2,877 new cases, bringing the infection rate to 154.7.

On the week ending November 25 the infection rate was 308.2. Case data is updating all the time and the most up-to-date statistics can be found here.

Though it is only slight in areas like Dartford, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells, every area in the county has seen a rise in cases since November 5.

However, week-on-week cases are now dropping in Swale (-13%) and Thanet (-10%) after they maintained a spot as some of the most infected areas in the UK for weeks.

Cases in Medway have continued to rise by 26% in a week, bringing the infection rate to 479.4, overtaking Thanet at 464.3.

If the unitary authority's cases continue to rise, it will likely overtake Swale's falling infection rate of 559.7 in the coming weeks.

Tunbridge Wells currently has the lowest infection rate at 79.2 with 94 cases dropping 39% in the last week.

As the whole Kent enters into tier three rules tomorrow, views on whether this is fair on people in less infected areas are as divided at the case statistics themselves.

Ashford's Damian Green was one MP who voted against the current system which puts the whole of Kent under the toughest restrictions.

Despite not rising at all the previous week, Ashford's cases increased 20% on the week ending November 25, with a total of 189 cases bringing the infection rate to 145.3.

Sevenoaks saw a 39% drop in cases bringing the infection rate to 117.6 with 142 cases - but their MP, Laura Trott, says she will "reluctantly" vote for the system set for tomorrow to ensure pressure is taken off of hospitals.

There are hopes that increased testing will bring Kent out of tier three sooner.

Ahead of Kent's local test and trace system being launched last week, Andrew Scott-Clark, Kent County Council's director of public health, said while mass testing is "an important part of managing the pandemic, it is not the solution"

"Any testing needs to be alongside all the other public health measures such as social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands.

“We have been in a national restrictions for two weeks and those high figures from before lockdown are now starting to level off, so we are encouraged that the majority of people are doing the right thing by minimising their social interactions at home and carefully following social distancing guidelines when they are out."

Leader of KCC, Roger Gough added: “We know that Kent’s hospitals are getting busier – not just from Covid cases but because of normal winter pressures – so we need to help the NHS too and the main thing people can do is to follow the national restrictions and self-isolate if they have symptoms or have been advised to self-isolate.

"If you have symptoms, book a test. Play your part to help protect Kent and Medway.”

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