Preston’s coronavirus infection rate has continued to fall – although the drop has slowed – in latest figures.

New coronavirus cases confirmed for Monday (26 April) showed Preston recorded 15 new cases.

South Ribble saw just two for the same day.

Chorley recorded nine new cases, Fylde up by one, Ribble Valley saw two cases and Wyre up by three.

Preston’s coronavirus infection rate is now 30.7 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to April 22, down from 32.8 cases per 100,000 people for the seven days to April 15.

See the latest coronavirus cases near you

Data for the most recent four days (April 23-26) has been excluded as it is incomplete and does not reflect the true number of cases.

South Ribble’s rate continues to drop, down to 15.3 from 31.6 for the same two date periods as Preston.

Wyre dropped to 8.9 from 17 and Fylde is down to 6.2 from 21.

Chorley’s rate is now 32.1, down from 36.4 and Ribble Valley is down to 9.9, from 13.1.

Read more: 44-year-olds in Preston and South Ribble to be invited to receive Covid jab

Covid is ‘under control’ but a future wave of infections could still threaten

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told the public to be ‘realistic’ about a future wave of coronavirus infections.

It comes as the Prime Minister denied saying he was prepared to let “bodies pile high” rather than order another lockdown, amid a bitter briefing war that has hit Downing Street.

During a visit to Wrexham, when asked if he had made the comments attributed to him, Mr Johnson said: “No, but I think the important thing I think people want us to get on and do as a Government is to make sure that the lockdowns work.

“They have, and I really pay tribute to the people of this country, this whole country of ours, that have really pulled together and, working with the vaccination programme, we have got the disease under control.

“The numbers of deaths, the number of hospitalisations, are currently very low. That doesn’t mean that we have got it totally licked, it doesn’t mean that Covid is over.

“We have got to be realistic about that, unfortunately there probably will be another wave of the disease, but I think that the vaccination programme has now been so massive – 33.6 million people vaccinated.

“We have built up what I think are some pretty robust fortifications against the next wave, we will have to see how strong they really are in due course.”

The public are being urged to get vaccinated with a new TV campaign launching calling on people aged 50 and under to get the jab so the UK can “continue on the path back to normality”.

A Government campaign – called “every vaccination gives us hope” – includes a TV advert which will showcase the health workers and volunteers involved in the vaccination rollout across the UK.

See the latest coronavirus vaccine stats and rates near you

The campaign will predominantly be aimed at people under the age of 50 who will be offered their first dose, as well as the over-50s who are booked in for their second dose, to encourage vaccine uptake.

In England, people aged 44 are now being invited to book their jab, with NHS England saying around half-a-million 44-year-olds would receive a text inviting them to get their jab through the national booking service.

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