Preston’s coronavirus infection rate still among highest in England as lockdown timetable day confirmed

Dawn breaks over Preston on Friday 12 February Pic: Tony Worrall

Preston’s coronavirus infection rate has now begun to fall again although remains amongst the highest in England.

The latest figures come as Downing Street confirmed the timetable for laying out any relaxing of Covid restrictions.

New cases confirmed for Friday (12 February) showed Preston saw 45 new Covid-19 cases.

South Ribble recorded 32 for the same day.

Wyre was up by 13, Fylde by 14, Ribble Valley recorded seven and Chorley was up by 29 cases.

Preston’s infection rate, which on Thursday had started to rise week-on-week, is now declining again. The city’s infection rate is now 308.8 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to February 8, down from 331.9 cases per 100,000 people for February 1. The city has the ninth highest infection rate in England.

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Data for the most recent four days (February 9-12) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

South Ribble’s Covid-19 infection rate is 269 cases per 100,000 people, down from 345.7 cases per 100,000 people for the same two date periods as Preston.

Wyre’s infection rate is 149, down from 242.7 and Fylde is now 188.2, down from 252.5.

Ribble Valley is now 169.2, down from 243.1 and Chorley is at 216.6, down from 231.8.

Date for lockdown restrictions decision confirmed

Downing Street have confirmed it is on February 22 we will discover the timetable ahead.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had previously stated if the February 15 deadline were met for vaccinating priority groups – which the government looks on track to do – then he would consider which restrictions to lift and when.

See the latest Covid vaccine stats and information

He was facing pressure from Conservative MPs to commit to an announcement on February 22, after reports surfaced saying it would be ‘the week of 22 February’.

A No10 spokesman said: “The latest data and evidence clearly shows that we remain in a difficult situation with the pressure on the NHS still very significant.

“We keep the latest data and evidence under constant review and on February 22 we will be setting out our plan to reopen schools and gradually reopening our economy and society.”

Schools are understood to be set to reopen on March 8.