A TOTAL of 50 new coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Cheshire West and Chester in the past two days, according to Government data.

The increase in the period up to 4.10pm today (September 19) is 23, which follows the highest one-day increase in confirmed cases since May, when 27 cases were recorded on Friday.

It brings the total number of confirmed cases for the borough since the pandemic began to 2,388.

The significant rise comes as nearby local authorities are to experience lockdown restrictions from Tuesday, September 22.

The number of positive Covid-19 cases recorded in west Cheshire for the week of September 9-15 is 94, according to the Government data, but is likely to increase further as some tests take as long as a week to confirm a positive result.

It means the infection rate for Cheshire West and Chester is around 30 cases per 100,000 people for last week.

The figure of 20 cases per 100,000 is the threshold the UK’s governments have used to judge whether returning travellers from foreign countries must endure a 14-day quarantine period.

Elsewhere, the Countess of Chester Hospital Trust once again did not record any deaths of a patient testing positive for the virus in the latest NHS England update.

It has, to date, not registered a death for nine weeks.

The total number of people who have died in Cheshire hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus stands at 727.

The Countess of Chester Hospital Trust has recorded 227 deaths (last recorded July 18), Mid Cheshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has recorded 214 deaths, the last on August 31; East Cheshire NHS Trust 146 (last recorded July 22), and Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust 139 (last recorded September 14).

In England, a further 16 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 29,735. Six were in North West hospitals, but none in the Cheshire area.