One area of Liverpool City Region has third highest COVID infection rates in England

Coronavirus cases are up across most of England, but in some areas infections are three times higher.
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Covid infections are rising across England, the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) infection survey shows – but people are up to 1.6 times more likely to be infected in some areas compared to others.

And the Liverpool City Region borough of Halton, along with nearby Warrington and Chester, are among the areas with some of the highest infection rates in England.

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The estimated number of people testing positive for coronavirus nationally was 1,513,700, representing 2.8% of the population, or around 1 in 35 people, according to the weekly infection survey.

Halton, Warrington and Chester are all way above that national average.

The positivity rate in England has been gradually increasing since 5 September when 1.3% of the population were testing positive.

The ONS survey is based on PCR samples taken from random households, regardless if they showed symptoms, in the week ending 3 October. Almost every region in England was found to have an increase in infections, except in the North East.

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Some areas of England are recording much higher infection rates than other parts. In the worst-affected areas, 3.6% of the population were thought to be infected, 1.5 times higher than in the area with the lowest infection rate – London’s Bromley, where 2.1% were infected.

The ONS survey is broken into subregions, which in some places group several local authorities together into a bigger cluster.

In the Halton; Warrington and Trafford cluster, one in 30 people tested positive for coronavirus in the week to 3 October. This represents 3.3% of the population and ranks the area as the third most infected in England.

Meanwhile, Chester, which is grouped with Cheshire West, ranked as the fifth most infected area in England. One in 30 people tested positive for coronavirus, which represents 3.2% of the population.

COVID-19 in Merseyside

  • Knowsley; Liverpool; Sefton; West Lancashire - approximately one in 40 people tested positive for coronavirus, which represents 2.75% of the population. Ranked 61 in England.
  • Wirral - one in 40 people tested positive for coronavirus, which represents 2.6% of the population. Ranked 70 in England.
  • St Helens; Wigan - approximately one in 40 people tested positive for coronavirus, which represents 2.5% of the population. Ranked 99 in England.