TOUGHER restrictions brought in to curb rising infection rates in St Helens and the wider region appear to be having an impact, public health data has shown.

The Liverpool City Region, which St Helens is a part of, was placed under Tier 3 lockdown restrictions last month amid a worrying rise in hospital admissions.

These measures look set to be superseded on Thursday, when England is expected to lockdown that is expected to last until December 2.

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Addressing the nation on Saturday, Boris Johnson said there were signs local action was paying off.

This is backed up by new data from St Helens Borough Council’s public health team, which shows that between October 21 and 27 there were 727 confirmed cases of coronavirus, equating to an infection rate of 402.6.

A week earlier, from October 14 to 20, there were 784 cases, giving an infection rate of 434.1.

Parr recorded the most positive cases in the latest data, with 64 confirmed cases, although there was a fairly even spread across the borough.

There has also been a significant drop in people aged 45 to 59 catching Covid-19, falling from 219 cases from October 14 to 20 to 186 cases between October 14 to 20,

The most cases were found in people aged 30 to 44, with 186 positive infections, slightly up from 183 a week earlier.

Cases remain more prominent in the female population of the borough, in line with national trends, with 54.2 per cent (394) of cases being women, down from 55.87 per cent (438) a week earlier.

The improving picture reflects that from our city region neighbours.

Figures are for the week ending October 28 and have been calculated by PA using data published by Public Health England show that rates are now falling in all of the six local authorities that make up the Liverpool City Region.

On Saturday, Mr Johnson said the crucial reproductions (R) number – which measures the spread of infection – was lowering in Tier 3 areas.

However, he said the virus was spreading even faster than Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies’ (SAGE) reasonable worst-case scenario.

The Prime Minister said that unless the government acts, daily deaths could reach several thousand a day.

Locally, hospital admissions and deaths have started to slow, although it is too soon to know whether this will be sustained.

The latest data from NHS England shows that, as of October 27, there were 122 confirmed coronavirus patients being cared for within St Helens and Knowsley NHS Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

This is down from 126 registered by the trust, which runs Whiston, St Helens and Newton hospitals, during the previous week.

The data also shows a significant drop in number of Covid patients either admitted to the trust or diagnosed in hospital.

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Between October 19 and 25, where there were 72 new cases, down from 122 patients a week earlier.

In terms of deaths, 22 people who tested positive for Covid-19 died while being cared for by the trust between October 22 to 29.

A total of 29 coronavirus deaths occurred at the trust between October 16 and 22.

Two more deaths were recorded over the weekend meaning that the trust has recorded 284 coronavirus deaths since the start of the pandemic in March.