A FURTHER 25 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in the Cheshire West and Chester area in the latest 24-hour reporting period, according to Government data.

The increase in the period up to 4pm today (September 23), which is in addition to the 22 confirmed cases in yesterday's update, brings the total number for the borough since the pandemic began to 2,478.

The number of positive Covid-19 cases recorded in west Cheshire last week (September 14-20) is 137, according to the Government data, but is likely to increase further as some tests take as long as a week to confirm a positive result.

That puts the infection rate for Cheshire West and Chester at around 40 cases per 100,000 people.

The figure of 20 cases per 100,000 is the threshold the UK's governments have used to judge whether returning travellers from foreign countries must endure a 14-day quarantine period.

In the seven days to September 14, there were 211 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in Warrington – which is now subject to enhanced lockdown restrictions – with the town’s rate of new cases at 100.5 per 100,000 people for that period.

Meanwhile, the Countess of Chester Hospital Trust once again did not record any deaths of a patient testing positive for the virus in the latest NHS England update.

It has, to date, not registered a death for over nine weeks.

The total number of people who have died in Cheshire hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus stands at 728.

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 141 (last recorded September 19).

In England, a further 23 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,808.

Patients were aged between 69 and 96 years-old. All had known underlying health conditions.

Date of death ranges from August 14 to September 22.