Preston and South Ribble Covid rates continue to fall as Fylde surges into England’s top five and Prime Minister says home-school until early March ‘at least’

St Walburge's Church spire seen from a frosty Preston view Pic: Paul Melling — St Walburge’s Church spire seen from a frosty Preston view Pic: Paul Melling

Preston and South Ribble’s Covid rates are continuing their fall but Fylde is now in England’s hotspot areas.

New coronavirus cases for Wednesday (27 January) showed 77 recorded cases for Preston.

South Ribble saw 51 new cases for the same day.

Wyre recorded 32, Fylde 22, Ribble Valley recorded 33 and Chorley saw 49 cases.

Preston’s infection rate is now 466 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to January 23, down from 502.3 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to January 16.

Data for the most recent four days (January 24-27) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

See the latest coronavirus cases and information near you

South Ribble is now at 408, down from 476.6, for the same two date periods as Preston.

Fylde is going in the other direction, the borough has seen the fifth largest week-on-week increase in England, going to 342.9 cases per 100,000 people, compared to 310.7.

Wyre is now at 293.5, down from 356.9 while Ribble Valley is 349.8, down from 499.3 and in Chorley the rate is 323.1, down from 360.4.

No let up on home-schooling until early March

Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave another update to the nation and said school would remain at home until at least early March.

The Prime Minister confirmed that hopes of all pupils returning to class after the February half-term have been abandoned as the battle with coronavirus remained “perilous”.

During an update to MPs earlier on Wednesday he said: When we look at the toll of this pandemic it must be measured not only in the tragic loss of life that we’ve endured, with over 100,000 deaths.

“But I’m afraid we must also remember not just the damage to the economy but the lost weeks and month of education and the real risk of damage to the prospects of our young people.”

See the Prime Minister’s latest press conference here

Schools will only reopen if the Government can be confident it will not result in a “huge surge” in cases.

Mr Johnson said he had earmarked March 8 as a potential date for the reopening of England’s schools.

The March reopening target is based on progress in vaccinating the most vulnerable groups in society by mid-February and then giving the jab time to take effect.

See the coronavirus vaccine centres near you