Southport and the rest of the Merseyside region could be placed on the Government’s national coronavirus watch list tomorrow (Friday).
Cases of patients testing positive for Covid-19 have been on the rise in every borough in Merseyside over the past few days.
In Liverpool and Wirral cases have triggered serious concern, rising above the 50 cases per 100,000 threshold.
Sefton has the lowest rate of infection in Merseyside, at 32,2, although the rate has nearly doubled in the seven days up to September 6 from 16.6 per 100,000 with cases rising from 46 to 89.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said he believes Merseyside will be added to the Government’s danger list amid the rising cases.
Liverpool and Wirral have been the worst hit, but numbers are also rising quickly in Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens.
The watch list, announced weekly, highlights areas of concern across the country where coronavirus is making a comeback and also signals which places could face restrictive new ‘lockdown’ measures in the near future.
Mayor Anderson said today he understands the entire region could be added to the list when it is updated tomorrow.
He said: “We believe Liverpool will be added to the government watch list and understand the whole Merseyside area could be as well.
“This would obviously be a real setback for us because we have worked so hard on this.”
The location with the highest rate of infection in the UK is Bolton, with a rate of 131.1 cases (377 new cases) per thousand in the seven days up until September 6, up from 72 per 100,000 (207 cases) the week before.
In Merseyside, the comparative figures are:
Wirral 55.6 (180), up from 30.2 (98) the week before
Liverpool 50.2 (250), 17.3 (86)
Knowsley 43.1 (65), 11.3 (17)
St Helens 42.1 (76), 6.6 (12)
Sefton 32.2 (89), 16.6 (46)
The rates for other nearby areas include:
West Lancashire 33.2 (38), 7.0 (8)
Wigan 31.9 (105), 13.1 (43)
South Ribble 31.6 (35), 8.1 (9)
Chorley 19.1 (23), 7.6 (9)
Joe Anderson said: “Clearly the only way we can solve this is by people being responsible and following the rules extremely closely now.
“If this doesn’t happen then we could go into a local lockdown and that would be huge and devastating for us as a city and as a wider region.
“The watch list is a real blow – but it is also a real warning of what could happen next.”
The watch list is updated every week and we may not have confirmation of whether Liverpool and Wirral or the whole of Merseyside have been added until later tomorrow.
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