Covid-19 cases in Knowsley reached their lowest point in six months this week as cases continued to fall.
But while the borough’s infection rate declined over the week, the speed of that decline slowed down as mass testing of secondary school pupils picked up more cases.
Unlike other parts of the Liverpool City Region, however, Knowsley saw cases fall every day up to March 9, recording 83 new infections during that week.
Once the borough with the highest infection rate in the country, Knowsley now has 55 cases for every 100,000 residents, a figure well below the national average.
The full impact of children returning to school will take at least a week to become clear, but the experience of other boroughs already suggests that any decline in cases over the next week could be limited.
Deaths from Covid-19 have also continued to fall in Knowsley, with one death from the virus being recorded in the week up to March 9.
Subsequent but incomplete figures suggest that Knowsley could be on course to record its first week without a Covid death since December.
Part of the reason for this progress, along with the impact of lockdown, could be the increasing vaccination levels in the borough.
Find the number of people vaccinated near you by entering your postcode below
By March 7, more than 55,000 people in Knowsley had received at least one dose of the vaccine, including more than 94% of the borough’s pensioners.
In that week, some 6,742 extra Knowsley residents had been vaccinated - almost 1,000 people a day.
Almost all the borough’s care home residents have also been vaccinated, but the figure for care home staff is much lower. Only two-thirds of care home staff have had even one dose of the vaccine, below the national average.
