Preston’s coronavirus infection rate is continuing to climb as the government is considering a new tier level of restrictions.

New confirmed cases for the city on Friday (18 December) were 43.

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South Ribble’s new coronavirus cases were at 29.

Wyre was up by 19 cases, Ribble Valley with 21 new cases and Fylde with just 10 new cases.

Preston’s Covid-19 infection rate is now 221.5 cases per 100,000 people, for the seven days to December 14, up from 209.6 for the seven days to December 7.

See the latest coronavirus cases and information near you

South Ribble’s infection rate has continued to fall, down to 167 from 187.7 for the same date periods as Preston.

Wyre’s coronavirus infection rate has increased, up to 143.6 from 93.7.

Fylde is also up, to 120.1 from 73.

Ribble Valley now has the highest Covid-19 infection rate of the areas monitored by Blog Preston, the rate is now 244.7 up from 164.2. Ribble Valley is above the average for England.

Read more: See the tier-3 and Christmas restrictions in full for Preston and Lancashire

Another national lockdown?

The Prime Minister has refused to rule out a third national lockdown in January.

Boris Johnson during a visit to Bolton during Friday (18 December) was asked whether further restrictions may follow after Christmas.

He said: “We’re hoping very much that we will be able to avoid anything like that. But the reality is that the rates of infection have increased very much in the last few weeks.”

Wales and Northern Ireland have already indicated they will return to a lockdown situation after Christmas.

It comes as the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) said the current three-tier system in England is not effective enough at driving down the virus.

Read more: Preston City Council’s leader reacts to remaining in tier-3

Chief medical officer professor Chris Whitty has previously said tier-3 rules were ‘not sufficient’.

The creation of a fourth tier of restrictions in England is apparently being explored by the government, according to The Times.

This would include the closure of non-essential retail and stay-at-home orders for local areas.

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