Coronavirus cases are rising in Wirral, with the east of the borough far more badly affected than the west.

In the week up to September 21, Wirral had 940 COVID-19 infections at a rate of 290 per 100,000.

That is a significant rise on the 863 cases recorded in the week up to September 14, at the lower rate of 266 per 100,000.

A rise in cases at this time of year, before the cold snap brings more socialising indoors encouraging the virus to spread, is a concern.

However, case levels are well below what they were in July, when the borough's infection rate was more than 500 per 100,000.

The numbers are even below levels seen in the first few days of this month, when the rate rose above 300 per 100,000.

The most recent figures broken down to a local level, which cover the week up to September 18, show the virus was heavily concentrated in the east of the borough.

Apart from Upton, the top five worst affected areas in Wirral were all in the borough's east.

Bromborough had the most cases (67), while Eastham (63) was second, followed by Claughton (53), Upton (48) and Rock Ferry (47).

Looking at the impact on hospitals, Wirral's COVID-19 hospitalisation numbers have been stable throughout August and September, with figures remaining in the 30s and 40s.

That is above levels seen in May and much of June, when fewer than 10 people were being treated for the virus in Wirral's hospitals, but it is far below January's peak figure of 279.

This of course reflects the fact that the vaccine rollout has had a huge impact in protecting people from the virus, what remains to be seen is if that protection will be enough when cases rise this winter as many expect them to.

As for deaths, Wirral recorded seven in the most recent figures, bringing the total number of deaths with COVID-19 on the death certificate in the borough up to 1,013.

While this is an awful figure to read, the weekly number is in line with what we have seen during August and September.