Wirral's COVID cases are continuing to fall at a promising rate ahead of next week's full reopening of schools.

In the week up to March 1, there were 224 virus cases at a rate of 69 per 100,000.

That is down on the figure of 352 cases at a rate of 109 per 100,000 registered last week.

The one worry in this week's news comes in a ward-by-ward breakdown of infection numbers, which covers the week up to February 26.

In New Brighton cases more than doubled in the space of a week, pushing the rate above 300 per 100,000.

The seaside town recorded 49 cases at a rate of 324 per 100,000.

That is a major rise on the 21 infections registered in the previous seven-day period at the lower rate of 139 per 100,000.

Among the other most affected areas in Wirral was Seacombe (26 cases at 168 per 100,000), Liscard (21 cases at 130 per 100,000), Bidston and St James (also 21 cases at 130 per 100,000) and Bromborough (20 cases at 123 per 100,000).

Despite the rise in New Brighton, cases were down throughout much of the borough.

Across Wirral's 22 council wards, infections fell in 16 and went up in just five, with one ward showing no change.

Another crucial measure, the positivity rate, which measures the percentage of tests that deliver a positive result, was also heading in the right direction.

In the week up to February 26, the rate was 3.5%, down from 5.0% last week.

The figure represents another week of progress after the enormous peak rate of 20.3%, which was recorded on January 8.

As for hospitals, Wirral's virus patient numbers peaked on January 22, when 279 were in its hospitals.

On March 1, there were just 29.

Despite the good news, Wirral is far from out of the woods yet.

On Tuesday, Julie Webster, Wirral's director of public health, said case numbers are still high compared to where we need them to be.

She added that she would like them to be down to 25 per 100,000 before lockdown measures are reduced.

The Director of Public Health was insistent that it will not be a "straight line" of progress in the fight against the virus from now until June 21, the earliest point at which all legal restrictions can be lifted.

She noted that COVID has not gone away despite the vaccine rollout.

Across the rest of the Liverpool City Region, St Helens had the highest rate in the week up to March 1 at 119 per 100,000, although that is down on last week's figure of 204 per 100,000.

Liverpool and Knowsley both recorded the rate of 93 per 100,000, with Liverpool's rate falling from 144 last week and Knowsley's down from 156.

Halton's infection rate of 81 is also down on the previous week's rate of 107, while Sefton's rate fell from 115 to 80 in the same weekly comparison.