There are now only two patients being treated for coronavirus in Wirral hospitals, latest figures show.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital does not disclose hospital admission numbers for its two main sites, but NHS England publishes the data on a weekly basis.

The most recent report, published today (April 8), shows that on April 6, just two beds at Arrowe Park and Clatterbridge Hospitals were occupied by Covid-19 patients - down six from eight patients seven days earlier.

And on April 2, there was just a single inpatient being treated for the virus in the trust.

The figures recorded in the past week are the lowest in Wirral since NHS England started producing its regular report about Covid hospital admissions on August 1, last year.

In further good news, neither of the remaining inpatients are occupying mechanical ventilation beds at Arrowe Park.

Clatterbridge Cancer Centre had one inpatient with Covid on April 5, but this returned to zero a day later.

The morale-boosting figures are in stark contrast to the situation three months ago, when pressure on Wirral's two main NHS hospitals reached a peak on January 22, with 279 patients with Covid occupying beds.

The reduction in patients is widely considered to be a result of the effectiveness of lockdown restrictions and the success of the local rollout of the ongoing vaccination programme.