CHESHIRE East and West have passed another grim milestone in the coronavirus pandemic today, January 11.

New figures from Public Health England show there were 420 Covid cases across the two boroughs in the 24-hour period up to 9am today – 219 in Cheshire West and 201 in Cheshire East.

That takes the combined total for Covid cases across two boroughs past the 30,000-mark.

Since the pandemic began, there have been 15,141 Covid cases in Cheshire West and 14,903 in Cheshire East, meaning there have been 30,044 cases across the two boroughs in total.

However, infection rates have fallen across the two boroughs for the second day in a row, having hit an alarming peak in data released on Saturday.

In Cheshire West, that peak stood at 622.3 per 100,000 people, following 2,135 cases in the seven days up to January 4.

But according to the latest Public Health England figures, the rate now stands at 562.3 per 100,000 people, following 1,929 cases in the seven days up to January 6.

Cheshire East saw a peak of 496.9 per 100,000 people following 1,909 cases in the seven days up to January 4 – but the rate now stands at 450.1 per 100,000 people following 1,729 cases in the seven days up to January 6.