Coronavirus cases have almost doubled in Bebington, with infections rising across Wirral heading into a potentially treacherous period for the NHS.

In the week up to September 7, there were 85 cases in the South Wirral town, up from just 47 the week before.

Case numbers went up in much of the borough over the same period, including in Liscard (from 64-79), Bidston and St James (49-61) and Seacombe (48-60).

Across Wirral as a whole, there were 1,132 infections in the week up to September 7 at a rate of 349 per 100,000.

That is up significantly, from 1,003 cases the week before at a rate of 310 per 100,000.

It is part of a continuous rise over a number of weeks.

Looking back to the week up to August 17, the rate was just 283 per 100,000 with 917 cases registered.

This is a cause for concern so early on in the school year and before the impact of autumn and winter is felt.

Many experts predict that cases will rise significantly as colder weather comes in, but in Wirral it has not taken that long for infection levels to rise significantly.

However, the successful rollout of the vaccination programme means that hospitalisations are not rising significantly at the moment.

The number of patients being treated for the virus in Wirral's hospitals has been around 30-40 for the whole of August and the first week of September.

But the fear is that this could rise sharply should infections continue to rise as we head into the winter.

The figures for deaths with COVID-19 listed as a cause on the death certificate have been fairly consistent throughout July and August, with between zero and seven deaths registered each week.

While this is far lower than the 70 deaths in a single week registered in January, it is a substantial rise on previous months given that there were no COVID-19 deaths in Wirral throughout May and June.