New coronavirus hotspots have emerged as county-wide figures show Hertfordshire is beginning to move in the wrong direction again.

Daily figures released today by the government recorded a further 244 cases in the county, while 261 recorded on November 30 was the highest daily total since 307 were recorded on November 16.

County council leader David Williams said it last week it is “highly unlikely” Hertfordshire would be moving into Tier 1 restrictions before Christmas – and the latest figures suggest there is very little chance of moving down tiers in the run-up to the festive period.

Locally, there is some good news with case rates down in a number of areas including Watford town centre, parts of West Watford, Garston, South Oxhey, and Rickmansworth.

But while cases have dropped in those areas, coronavirus has spiked in other parts, most notably in Leggatts ward in North Watford, and across the whole of Bushey and Bushey Heath.

It means Watford and Hertsmere have the second and third highest case rates in Hertfordshire, only behind Broxbourne.

Scroll down for a table showing the latest number of cases in your ward

Watford’s cases were on the way down until 62 were recorded collectively on November 26 and 27.

Leggatts ward in North Watford saw 28 cases in the seven days to November 27, which was by far the highest number of cases in Watford over this time period.

Holywell was second with 19 cases followed by West Watford with 16 – although this was down eight from the previous week.

Cases have spiked across Bushey with 69 cases recorded across Bushey North, Central, and Heath in the seven days to November 27 – up from 46 in the seven days to November 20.

The reason behind the spike is unclear but figures for Hertsmere, published by Hertfordshire County Council, show a majority of cases between November 20 and 27 were teenagers and those aged in their 50s.

A government map also shows Carpenders Park and Oxhey Hall & Hayling have also become Covid hotspots again with 19 cases and 20 cases respectively in the seven days to November 27.

The map shows, Oxhey, with 11 cases, is completely surrounded by Covid hotspots.

Meanwhile, NHS figures released today confirmed a further five coronavirus deaths at West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust.

The five patients, aged at least 60-years-old, had all tested positive for Covid-19 and they died on November 30 and December 1.

The total Covid death toll at the trust is now 449.

There were 908 Covid-19 patients in hospitals in the east of England as of yesterday according to government dashboard figures, which is the highest since May 6 - but daily admissions to hospitals in the east have eased off slightly in recent days.