There are fewer than 500 coronavirus cases currently in Wirral, the lowest figure recorded since December 19.

In the week up to February 11, there were 473 cases at a rate of 146 per 100,000.

That is a significant drop from 726 cases at a rate of 224 per 100,000 in the previous week.

These numbers are hugely encouraging given the spike in December and early January.

On December 3, just after the second lockdown ended, the borough's rate was 52 per 100,000.

By Christmas Day, that had risen to 214 and surged to an enormous 988 by January 8.

To get the rate down by so much so quickly is a great effort, but it should be noted that the current rate of 146 is nearly triple the figure recorded on December 3, as we emerged from the previous lockdown.

There is then more work to do, but the current rate is the lowest recorded since December 19 and this can be expected to fall further if the restrictions continue to be effective.

In the borough's hospitals, there are still 135 coronavirus patients on the latest numbers which cover February 9, a big figure and one that is above last April's first wave peak of 131.

It is however a welcome fall from the previous week's numbers when 211 virus patients were in Wirral's hospitals, and the peak of 279 on January 22.