WIRRAL has the lowest infection rate in the Liverpool City Region after cases fell for six days in a row.

As well as the marked fall in Wirral's numbers, cases are decreasing across the whole of the City Region.

But caution must remain at this stage, as infection rates are still far higher than they were after the second lockdown and huge numbers of people are in our region’s hospitals battling the virus.

In Wirral, figures for the seven days up to January 14 show that 2,603 cases were recorded, at a rate of 803 per 100,000.

That is down on the rate of 982 per 100,000, with 3,183 cases registered, in the week up to January 8.

While the most up-to-date figures show a decline in infections, there are still far more cases than at the end of the second lockdown.

Between December 3, just after the rules were relaxed, and Christmas Day, Wirral's infection rate went up from 52 per 100,000 to 214 per 100,000.

During the Christmas period this rise got out of control, soaring from 214 to a peak of 982, the figure recorded on January 8.

This enormous rise has led to far more people being admitted to Wirral's hospitals with Covid-19.

The most recently published numbers show that 252 people were being treated for coronavirus in the borough’s hospitals on January 12.

To put that into perspective, it is almost double the number of virus patients being treated in the same hospitals at the peak of the first wave in April.

That is why we need to see case numbers fall.

Thankfully, as is the case in Wirral, the rest of the Liverpool City Region is starting to register falling infection numbers.

Knowsley has the highest rate in the borough, 1,169 in the seven days up to January 14, but that is down on the rate of 1,465 recorded in the week up to January 8.

On the same comparison, Halton’s rate is now below 1,000, at 929, a marked fall on the peak rate of 1,307.

In Liverpool and Sefton, cases have also declined.

Sefton’s rate is now 883, down from 1,115, while Liverpool’s rate of 878 is a fall on the rate of 1,089 in the week up to January 8.

St Helens recorded the smallest fall, with its rate now at 820, down from 866.