A FURTHER 13 confirmed coronavirus cases have been recorded for the Cheshire West and Chester area over a 48-hour period.

That brings the total number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began for the area to 2,186.

Thirteen new cases were confirmed during the period from 4pm on Friday, September 4, to 3.56pm yesterday (Sunday, September 6).

Government data released yesterday showed a large rise in the number of confirmed UK cases.

There was a total of 2,988 cases compared to 1,813 in the previous 24-hour period.

On Saturday, a new walk-through testing site in Chester opened, allowing people with symptoms of the virus to get tested at the Little Roodee Car Park, seven days a week.

While the number of cases is slowly on the rise in the area, there has, to date, been no further coronavirus deaths recorded at the Countess of Chester Hospital Trust in more than seven weeks.

The Cheshire hospital death toll stands at 726.

The Countess of Chester Hospital Trust has recorded 227 deaths (last recorded July 18), Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has recorded 214 deaths, the last on August 31; East Cheshire NHS Trust 146 (last recorded July 22), and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 139 (last recorded August 24).