The rate of Covid-19 cases in Newcastle increased by more than 50% in the week to March 9, even as Health Secretary Sajid Javid said yesterday that a "modest increase" was "to be expected".
Each of the North East's other local authorities also saw increases in their case rates per 100,000 people - even as testing levels remain a fraction of what they were at the height of the Omicron wave.
This comes after Covid-19 measures such as social distancing were scrapped in late February, with the country's testing infrastructure to be dismantled from April 1.
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Data shows that hospital admissions have risen by 46% nationally over a fortnight - and in some of the North East's hospitals, the number of Covid-positive patients in hospital is creeping up again.
The rise in cases is thought to be related to the circulation of "the more transmissible BA.2 subvariant " of Omicron. It's thought to account for two-thirds of new cases.
Nationwide, there had been more than 110,000 of the so-called "stealth Omicron" BA.2 cases.
There were, as of March 8, 58 Covid-positive patients in Newcastle's hospitals, up from a low of 25 in mid-February.
As for cases, in Newcastle the rate of Covid-19 positives over the seven days to March 9 was 387.8 - that's up 51.8% on a week earlier. This is the biggest percentage rise since January 7, though back then the case rate was more than ten times higher.
UK-wide, the rate of Covid-19 cases in back up to 571.6 per 100,000 people - higher than any of the LA7 local authorities, and it also increased by more than 50% over the week to March 9.
That's the last date for which the data is complete.
It was a similar, if less stark, picture across the North East.
In Northumberland the case rate - 439.1 per 100,000 people over seven days - is the highest it has been since mid-February and a 46.6% week-on-week increase. That means there were 1,422 new cases over seven days.
In North Tyneside, the rate is 410.3, which equals 857 cases. Rates in Gateshead (286.2), South Tyneside (270.6), Sunderland (306.6), and County Durham (305.2) are all lower, but still showing a substantial increase as the trend begins to worsen once again.
These figures must be considered against the context of much lower testing levels now than at the height of the Omicron wave over the winter.
On March 13, there were 585,290 tests reported, whereas on January 31 there were more than 1.2 million.
According to testing data for Newcastle, there were 4,134 PCR tests reported in the seven days to March 8, and the positivity rate of those tests was up to 16% - that's the highest it has been since February 2.
Across the North East as a region, the number of lateral flow tests reported has steadily declined since January too. On March 10, there were 20,900 tests reported across the region. An astonishing 73,297 were reported on January 4.
This week, Sajid Javid told Times Radio the rise in infections was "to be expected". He said: "We are seeing a modest increase in infections but that’s to be expected after we’ve opened up and we’re seeing more social mixing. The infection rate is way below the peak for Omicron."
"We remain in an overall very good position," he added. "We’re the most open country in Europe and that’s happened because of the country’s approach and the British people’s approach to vaccination, but also the support that we have from all the different treatments that the NHS is now able to offer and on our testing offer where we focus very much on the most vulnerable."
These are the five areas of the North East which saw the most new Covid-19 cases reported in the seven days to March 10:
Kingston Park & Dinnington - 94 new cases, 679.8 cases per 100,000
North Gosforth - 85 new cases, 834.2 cases per 100,000
Coxlodge & West Gosforth - 80 new cases, 770.2 cases per 100,000
South Gosforth - 77 new cases, 806 cases per 100,000
Hexham & Acomb - 74 new cases, 567.6 cases per 100,000
