Residents reminded to take extra caution at the weekend as COVID-19 cases continue to rise

WARRINGTON council’s Public Health leaders have reiterated the need for residents to remain extra cautious and to guard against complacency, as COVID-19 case numbers continue to rise.

The most recent figures, which including seven int he last 48 hours, show that in the last eight days, from Thursday 6 August, there have been 44 new cases in Warrington.
These figures represent a marked increase in cases in Warrington compared to last month, despite the town having one of the lowest infection rates in the North West.
No new cases had been recorded from Monday August 3rd to Wednesday August 5th – but there has been a steady increase ever since, including seven new cases in two local care homes.
A total of 1,389 people have now tested positive in the Warrington area as of 4pm today.

Following calls earlier this week for Warrington residents to play their part to prevent the spread of the virus, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Cllr Maureen McLaughlin, is renewing her appeal for residents to continue to do all they can to prevent further transmission of the virus.
Cllr McLaughlin said: “Please think carefully about where you go, and who you see, over the weekend. We need everybody’s support over the coming weeks to drive case numbers back down and I would ask anyone who feels even slightly symptomatic or generally unwell, to book a coronavirus test and self-isolate immediately. We need to do all we can to avoid the prospect of localised lockdown restrictions like we’ve seen in Greater Manchester, for example.
“It is still in our hands to control the increase in case numbers. I understand the temptation, especially over the weekend, to visit people and to go places where you may not especially want to socially distance yourself – but I would ask you to remain disciplined to help protect one another. There may be people you will see and socialise with who have the virus but are not displaying any symptoms and who could pass it on to you or more vulnerable people. It is therefore of the utmost importance you continue to follow the clear guidance to avoid making yourself, or others, seriously unwell.
“And finally, always remember the basics – to wear face coverings where necessary, to maintain excellent hand hygiene, to keep your distance and to book a test if you have any symptoms of coronavirus, however mild, including a high temperature, persistent cough or loss of normal taste or smell.”
Warrington’s coronavirus case numbers are rising – but we can all play our part to help reduce the spread of the virus. If you are displaying coronavirus symptoms – book a test straight away
at https://www.warrington.gov.uk/get-tested-coronavirus
For more information, visit: warrington.gov.uk/TestAndTrace

The latest data from Warrington Hospital as of noon Thursday August 13 was at noon on 13th August 2020 (previous week’s figures in brackets):

·To date they tested 15,283 (14,335) inpatients/community of which 1,204 (1,199) have tested positive.
·They were caring for 5 (3) in-patient who has tested positive for Covid-19, there is 1 (1) Covid-19 positive patient in ICU
·They had discharged 391 (388) patients and sadly 138 (137) have died
·There have been 1,611 Emergency Dept. attendances in the last 7 days (ave daily attendance 230)
·There have been 435 Urgent Care Centre attendances in the last 7 days (ave daily attendance 62)
·There have been 52 babies born in the last week (56 this week last year)

Across the UK the daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths was 11, taking the total number of deaths to 41,358*.
The daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases was 1,441 taking the total number to 316,736.

The total number of people tested in the UK is now 14,142,736 with 925 patients currently in hospital and 75 patients in ventilator beds.
For the latest COVID-19 information visit https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
*The number of COVID-19 deaths has been adjusted to take into accounting new reporting criteria introduced by Public Health England and data for Warrington deaths is currently not available.