Covid cases show signs of slowing
THE coronavirus pandemic has continued to show signs of abating in Halton albeit with a sudden rise in cases recorded on Monday.
According to official Public Health England data, the number of patients diagnosed with the disease had barely changed since last Tuesday, hovering at 412 with a small blip to 413 before falling back to 412 on June 20-21.
It then jumped by five cases to 417 on Monday.
Whether this suggests it will start rising again consistently or whether it was a blip was not clear at time of writing.
Four patients were recorded as having died due to coronavirus at Warrington And Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH) between Monday, June 15, and Monday, June 22, rising from 127 to 131.
St Helens And Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (STHK) recorded three Covid-19 deaths during the same period, increasing from 202 to 205.
According to the most recent coronavirus mortality data for Halton, there were five residents died from the disease in the week up to June 12, and recorded in the week up to June 20.
Two of those occurred in hospital and three in care homes.
WHH provided supplementary data about the ongoing situation.
A spokeswoman said that as of June 18 the trust had tested 7,432 patients, up from 6,543 last week, of which 1,151 had tested positive, up from 1,123 the previous week.
The hospitals were caring for 17 inpatients who had tested positive for the disease, down from 18 the week before.
There were two Covid19 patients in intensive care, up from zero the previous week.
The trust had discharged 347 patients and 128 have died.
Warrington accident and emergency department was dealing with 199 patients a day and the Runcorn Urgent Care Centre had a caseload of 46 patients a day.
More buses began running again on June 21, and passengers are required to wear face masks by law.
In terms of other changes, a sense of lockdown easing continued, with ‘non-essential’ shops having opened to the public last Monday, June 15.
Norton Priory has revealed it is to reopen its museum and garden to the public on July 4.