The leader of Wirral Council expects the borough to be placed in Tier 2 of the Government’s Covid-19 alert system, with an announcement due from the Commons later today.

The confident projection comes after latest figures show that Wirral's weekly Covid infection rate is continuing steadily on a downward trajectory.

According to Public Health England's latest figures, in the seven days to November 21, the borough had a Covid new case rate of 125.9 per 100,000 people, with 408 people testing positive for the virus. That's down from a rate of 177.5 for the previous seven days when there were 575 new cases.

Councillor Jan Williamson said on Twitter this morning: "I am fully expecting Wirral to be put into Tier 2 today as part of the Liverpool City Region. We have done our bit, the Government must recognise this and do theirs #Covid19UK"

Wirral Globe: A summary of Covid-19 alert system from December 2A summary of Covid-19 alert system from December 2

Most of England is expected to face tough coronavirus restrictions when the new tier arrangements are set out, with bans on households mixing indoors and curbs on pubs and restaurants.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out the plans in the Commons but ministers have already warned that more areas will likely be in higher tiers compared to the regime before the lockdown.

The new arrangements will apply from December 2 after England’s blanket lockdown ends and restrictions have been tightened after Government scientific advisers warned that previous measures had not been effective enough.

But Merseyside’s leaders hope to move down from Tier 3 to Tier 2 in recognition of the county's efforts in tackling the virus.

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram said: “The progress we’ve made since we were put in Tier 3 is remarkable – we’ve gone from having two areas with infection rates of about 750 per 100k to 180 across the city region.”

Mr. Hancock is due to give a statement to MPs in the House of Commons this morning, at around 11.30am.