MORE than one in 100 people at a Cheshire West ward tested positive for coronavirus between Christmas Day and New Year's Eve, new figures show.

There were a total of 52 confirmed cases in the Strawberry ward in Ellesmere Port between December 25-31, 2020, according to Cheshire West and Chester Council's Covid-19 data dashboard.

This meant the infection rate for that ward was 1,001.7 per 100,000 people, equivalent to over one per cent of people testing positive for just that week.

Generally, the wards with the highest Covid infection rates in Cheshire West are in Chester and Ellesmere Port, with the east of the borough experiencing significantly lower numbers of both confirmed cases and infection rates.

The Cheshire West area with the second highest Covid infection rate is Lache, which up until recently had recorded some of the lowest Cheshire West infection rates, but between December 25-31 had 58 positive cases recorded for an infection rate of 997.4.

Ledsham and Manor had the third highest (86 positive cases, infection rate 949.8), followed by Blacon (115 cases, infection rate 839.7) and Westminster (35 cases, infection rate 776.4).

The current overall Cheshire West rate is 479.2 – but this is expected to rise much higher over the next couple of weeks as the rate of confirmed cases in recent days continues to rise.

It is then hoped a combination of the vaccine roll-out and the third England lockdown will see infection rates fall as they did in spring and November 2020.

The remainder of the top 10 wards with the highest Covid infection rate are:

  • Sixth – Farndon (33 cases, infection rate 731.2)
  • Seventh – Christleton and Huntington (76 cases, infection rate 700.1)
  • Eighth – Whitby Park (35 cases, infection rate 697.5)
  • Ninth – Newton and Hoole (101 cases, infection rate 675.1)
  • Tenth – Central and Grange (74 cases, infection rate 673)

The wards with the lowest infection rates are:

  • Winsford Wharton – seven cases, infection rate 125.81
  • Davenham, Moulton and Kingsmead – 17 cases, infection rate 159.8
  • Tarporley – eight cases, infection rate 165.4
  • Neston – 10 cases, infection rate 176.3
  • Shakerley – nine cases, infection rate 179.