ONE in every 250 residents in Cheshire West and Chester tested positive for Covid in the space of one week.

As coronavirus restrictions are eased further as part of the so-called 'Freedom Day' on July 19, latest Government figures show that 1,373 people in the Cheshire West and Chester area tested positive for the virus between July 7-13.

That has meant the borough now has a seven-day infection rate of 400.5 per 100,000, the equivalent of roughly one in every 250 residents per week.

The rate of people testing positive for Covid continues to rise, and is now approaching the levels seen in the borough in late December and early January, with about 300 new cases a day being recorded.

That was when increasingly strict lockdown restrictions were imposed, but was also at a time when only two per cent of the borough's adult population had received any Covid vaccine doses.

Two further Covid patient deaths have been reported in Cheshire hospitals.

Both patients sadly died at the Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals Trust on July 17.

There continues to be a large difference in the infection rate between those aged 0-59, and those aged 60 and over.

Out of the 1,373 cases for July 7-13, 1,294 of them were in those aged 0-59, and 79 were in those aged 60 and above.

Vaccines are seen as being crucial to minimising the effects of Covid, and in Cheshire West and Chester, 84.2 per cent have now received their first dose, with 66.4 per cent fully vaccinated.

However, the rate of adults getting jabbed has slowed in recent weeks. Those aged 25-29 have the lowest vaccine take-up rate at 64.71 per cent for a first dose, compared to 67.7 per cent for those aged 18-24.

All adults are urged to get their vaccine, if they haven't already done so, at mobile walk-in clinics in the borough this week. No booking is required.