THE number of Covid patients being treated in Cheshire hospitals continues to rise.

The latest number of Covid patients recorded in the four main hospital trusts covering the county is 77, as of 8am on Tuesday, July 27, according to NHS England figures.

That is a rise of 14 on the previous week's 63.

Broken down by hospital trust, there are:

Warrington and Halton: 26 Covid patients (up seven from last week), including five on mechanical ventilator beds (down one from last week)

Mid Cheshire: 25 Covid patients (up eight from last week), including five on mechanical ventilator beds (down three from last week)

East Cheshire: 14 Covid patients (up four from last week), including three on mechanical ventilator beds (up two from last week)

Countess of Chester: 12 Covid patients (down five from last week), including two on mechanical ventilator beds (down two from last week).

Sadly, four more Covid patient deaths have been recorded so far this week.

Three Covid patients died at the Mid Cheshire Hospital Trust – two on July 26, the other on July 27 – and one died at the Warrington and Halton Hospitals Trust on July 27.

The number of new Covid cases has fallen significantly across the county in the past week. Although some of the decrease has been attributed to less testing being carried out among school-age children because of the summer holidays, the infection rate has fallen across almost all age demographics.

At least 80 per cent of every Cheshire borough's adult population has now had a first dose of a Covid vaccine, with nearly 70 per cent of adults now fully vaccinated.