Council scaling up to deliver rapid community testing as COVID-19 cases continue to rise

WITH COVID-19 infection rates continuing to rise in the town, with a further 190 new cases reported today, Warrington Borough Council is scaling up to deliver a rapid community testing programme.

A Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are scaling up to deliver a rapid community testing programme for Warrington – as part of the national pilot – which we expect to start from this month onwards.
“This testing will take place at two sites and the full details will be communicated in due course.”
Meanwhile, two more deaths have sadly been reported at Warrington Hospital while the 190 new COVID-19 cases have taken the seven-day rate to 1,197.
The 190 (231) new cases in the latest figures from Public Health England takes the total since the start of the pandemic to 11,635 (11,445).
Cases in Warrington for the last seven days, previous days/updates in brackets, are 1,197 (1,101) – 570 (524.3) per 100,000 population – continuing an upward trend in infection rates over a seven day period.
*Latest figures available from Warrington & Halton Hospitals updated Wednesday January 6 2021 – Tuesday’s figures in brackets. *Figures are not updated at weekends and Bank Holidays.
Covid-19 positive inpatients 144 (146) of which 63 are Warrington residents – of which 18 (17) are in ICU
Total number of tests (inpatients/community) cumulative – 50,032 (49,683)
Total tests with a positive result (inpatients/community/died/discharged) cumulative 3,599 (3,552)
Discharges of positive patients (excluding deaths) cumulative 1126 (1107)
Deaths of Covid-19 positive inpatients cumulative 323 (321)
*Hospital deaths include residents from Warrington and Halton. Total deaths of Warrington residents can be seen below.
*The highest number COVID-19 positive inpatients during the first wave was on 12th April with 124 patients of which 18 were in ICU.
The total number of deaths in Warrington within 28 days of a positive test reported by Public Health England is currently 319 (316) 151.9 per 100,000 population.
The total number of deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate in Warrington reported by Public Health England is 375 (361).
Across the UK the daily number of COVID-19 associated UK deaths reported on Wednesday, January 6 was 1,041 (830), taking the total number of deaths to 77,346 (76,305).
The daily number of lab-confirmed UK cases was 62,322 (60,916), taking the total number to 2,836,801 (2,774,479).
Across the country, there are 30,451 (23,857) patients currently in hospital and 2,645 (1,847) patients in ventilator beds.
The total number of people to receive first dose vaccination is 944,539.
To find out more about COVID-19 testing, and to book a test if you have symptoms, visit warrington.gov.uk/get-tested-coronavirus
For the latest COVID-19 guidance for Warrington visit https://www.warrington.gov.uk/coronavirus-latest-guidance
UK Summary
The latest R number is estimated at 1.1 to 1.3 with a daily infection growth rate range of +1% to +6% as of 24 December 2020.