Coronavirus cases are on the up in Wirral, as the government steps-up the vaccine programme to counter the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the country.

In the seven days up to December 7, there were 1,360 COVID-19 cases in Wirral, at a rate of 420 per 100,000.

That is a rise of more than 8% from the figure of 1,255 cases at a rate of 387 per 100,000 registered in the previous week.

It is not known if this is being driven by the Omicron variant at this stage.

The impact of rising cases is not yet being felt in Wirral's hospitals, with 30 people being treated for COVID-19 in the borough, a figure which has been stable over the last few months.

The number of weekly deaths with COVID-19 registered on the death certificate has also not changed significantly in recent weeks.

But it should be noted that any potential impact of the Omicron variant is unlikely to be detectable in figures on hospitalisations and deaths yet.

More will be known about how deadly it is in comparison to other variants over the coming weeks and months.

Breaking cases down to a more local level, the two council wards with the most cases in Wirral in the week up to December 7 were Bromborough (79 cases) and Clatterbridge (77 cases).

Last night, Boris Johnson told the country that all adults over the age of 18 can now book their 'booster jab', a third dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Reflecting on the rate at which Omicron is spreading across the country, the Prime Minister also said: "No one should be in any doubt, there is a tidal wave of Omicron coming."