THERE were 146 new cases of coronavirus in St Helens in the latest official daily figures.

Public Health England statistics show that there were 146 cases of COVID-19 recorded in the 24 hours up to 9am on Wednesday, October 21.

This is again in line with the number of cases over recent days, with 144 in the previous day's numbers.

The health body includes Pillar Two tests – those carried out in the wider community – alongside Pillar One tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme in the spring.

The weekly rate of new infections in St Helens was 415.9 per 100,000 with 751 cases recorded between October 11 and 17.

This does not take into account the more recent days' numbers.

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Last week, St Helens was placed under Tier Three ‘very high alert’ level restrictions.

These include for people not to socialise with anybody they do not live with, or have formed a support bubble with, in any indoor setting or in any private garden or at most outdoor hospitality venues and ticketed events; not to socialise in a group of more than six in an outdoor public space and pubs and bars can only remain open where they operate as if they were a restaurant.

However, it has been announced that gyms and leisure centres are to be able to reopen again.

In total, 4,616 people have been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 in St Helens, since the start of the outbreak in mid-March.

This means the overall rate of infection in St Helens since the start of the pandemic now stands at 2,556 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the equivalent England average of 1,190.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 26,687 over the 24-hour period to 789,229.

St Helens' cases were among the 167,698 recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 5,468 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, asymptomatic, have recovered and those that have died.