Coronavirus is continuing to decline in Wirral, amid a more uncertain picture for the rest of the region.

In the week up to March 25, 86 COVID-19 cases were registered in Wirral at a rate of 27 per 100,000, down from 92 cases at 28 per 100,000 in last week's numbers.

The very latest figures showed that Wirral's infection rate was the lowest it has been since August 27 last year when 77 cases were recorded at a rate of 24 per 100,000.

It is welcome news amid some rises in daily case numbers for the borough which threatened to change the pattern.

In three of the last seven days cases actually went up in Wirral, but overall the virus still declined in the week as a whole.

The fall of just six cases, from 92 last week to 86 this time around, is much smaller than decreases seen in recent weeks and months, but the infection rate is now at a low level and is continuing to decline.

The next few weeks will be crucial in assessing the impact that the end of the stay at home order, and the bringing in of the Rule of Six for meeting people from other households outdoors, will have.

Under the changes in restrictions which came in today, people can meet either in groups of six people from multiple households or groups of more than six from no more than two households in outdoor spaces, such as parks and private gardens.

Across the rest of the Liverpool City Region, cases fell in most areas on the same week-by-week comparison as was used for Wirral, but there were exceptions.

In Liverpool, the infection rate fell from 46 per 100,000 to 39 per 100,000.

In St Helens, a much bigger fall, from 63 to 47, was registered, while Sefton's rate also decreased from 46 to 37.

However, Knowsley's rate went up from 43 to 48.

In Halton, the rate remained exactly the same at 60.