Covid-19 infection rates continue to fall across the Liverpool City Region - although numbers remain dangerously high and the pressure on hospitals is intensifying.
An explosion of new covid cases after Christmas has thrust the city region back to the top of the list of worst-hit areas of the country.
At their recent highest, the city region's average infection rate was over 1,000 cases per 100,000 people with the boroughs of Liverpool, Knowsley and Sefton all individually passing that grim milestone and Wirral just narrowly behind it.
But in recent days the region has experienced sustained falls in infection rates, with post-Christmas restrictions now appearing to take effect.
Knowsley is the only remaining city region borough with an infection rate higher than the 1,000 mark - and its latest level of 1,183 cases per 100,000 (from data up to January 14) has come down significantly from the high point of over 1400 that it reached earlier in January.
Having also tipped over the 1,000 per 100,000 mark a short time ago, the city of Liverpool's infection rate has now dropped below 900 to around 875 cases per 100,000 residents.
Sefton has seen a similar fall and the latest data gives the borough an infection rate of 887 cases per 100,000.
Halton had joined Knowsley as one of the very worst hit boroughs in the country earlier this month after cases quadrupled in just a week.
In early January, the borough reached a high infection point of more than 1500 cases per 100,000 people - but a recent sustained decline has brought that number down to 939.
Wirral's infection level had got very close to the 1,000 milestone but is now down at 805 cases per 100,000 while St Helens has a current infection rate of 822 cases per 100,000.
While we have seen rates starting to come down, it must be pointed out that the infection levels across the city region remain extremely high and much larger than anything we saw in the second wave peak in the autumn.
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Unfortunately, we are now starting to see these soaring rates translate into huge pressure on our local hospitals.
Today Alder Hey specialist children's hospital has begun taking adult Covid-19 patients to try and help other struggling hospitals in the local area.
Liverpool's Director of Matt Ashton said: "It's good news that rate of infection is now dropping, but still extremely high, and pressures on health services remain high. Please #StayAtHome."
