Latest week-to-week coronavirus infection rates for Liverpool City Region (LCR) show the recent spike in cases beginning to level out.
The updated statistics from Public Health England indicate that rates are not rising as quickly as they were earlier in the month - but nevertheless the rates are still very high.
As the ECHO has reported, the most recent daily numbers are also showing further declines.
In the LCR, the latest infection rate is 928.3 cases per 100,000 population.
It means the rate is still rising week-on-week but it has dipped from a peak of 1006.5 earlier this week and may now be on a downward trend.
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In England as a whole, infection rates are now coming down after spiking upwards in recent weeks. The infection rate has fallen 6% week-on-week in the most recent figures.
Looking at the data, the virus generally appears to be spreading more slowly following the start of the third national lockdown which began on Tuesday, January 5 2021.
However, it is too early to be sure that this will turn into a downward trend in the LCR.
And the pressure on the NHS is likely to carry on increasing as there is usually a two week delay between a rise in cases leading to a rise in hospital admissions.
Health officials also fear that there will continue to be an increase in coronavirus deaths in the short term.
Knowsley is still the area with the highest rate in the LCR, at 1,363.5 cases per 100,000 population, which is a 47% increase on the previous week
Halton, Sefton and Liverpool also have infection rates above 1,000 per 100,000 people - which means at least 1% of the local population was infected in a single week.
The rate in Wirral is 901.8 cases per 100,000 and is up 16% week-on-week, the lowest increase of the six areas in the region.
St. Helens has the lowest infection rate at 799.6 cases per 100,000 people for the week ending January 10.
