WARRINGTON has the 35th highest rate of transmission of coronavirus of any area in England, according to the latest statistics.

The most recently available Public Health England figures showed that there were 692 new Covid-19 cases in the town in the seven days leading up to October 16.

This equates to an infection rate of 329.5 positive tests for every 100,000 residents, the 35th biggest number for a local authority area in the country.

By comparison, in the seven-day period before October 9 there were 749 new coronavirus cases in Warrington – or 356.6 per 100,000.

As of Tuesday, there were 116 patients at Warrington Hospital who had tested positive for Covid-19 – 16 of which were in intensive care.

The coronavirus death toll at Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust now stands at 160, with 525 people having been discharged from the Lovely Lane site after receiving treatment for the virus.