COVID rates are now at ‘record levels’ in Cheshire West and Chester, but health chiefs hope high vaccination rates will help keep hospital admissions and deaths down.

The regular meeting of the council’s Covid-19 Outbreak Board yesterday evening (Tuesday) received a report from the council’s director of Public Health, Ian Ashworth.

Referring to the last year as a ‘rollercoaster’, he told members that infection rates are now ‘significantly higher’ than they have ever been in the borough, with 688 infections per 100,000 up to December 16. He said that figure was now likely to be around 710, with the highest infection rates being seen in the 10-19 age group.

The overall figure was an increase of 10 per cent on the previous week, compared to the England average of 44 per cent.

Of those, he said there were 187 confirmed cases of the new Omicron variant, with 322 classed as ‘probable’ Omicron cases.

Members were told there are currently 16 patients in Leighton Hospital with Covid and 18 in the Countess of Chester Hospital, with 28 in Arrowe Park in Wirral.

There had been five deaths from Covid up until December 3, but with a lag between rates, hospitalisations and deaths.

Mr Ashworth told the meeting: “If you look back though to January and you can see a significant difference. Infections are going up and up and up but we’re still managing to be able to keep the (hospital bed) occupancy and deaths down.

“They’re still happening, and any can have an impact on our health services, but it does show the significant impact of what we have been able to introduce, whether that’s vaccines and treatments or being able to support people to self-isolate.”

Councillors were told that 86 per cent of people in Cheshire West and Chester have had at least one vaccine dose, compared to 79 per cent nationally, with 54 per cent having received booster jabs compared to 45 per cent in the rest of the country.

Council leader Cllr Louise Gittins told the meeting: “Those graphs just show how important the vaccine is, it’s unequivocal really, all the other measures as well that are important.

"Get your vaccine and get your booster and well done to everybody who’s been working on the vaccine.”