Cheshire West and Chester Council leaders are urging residents to get vaccinated against Covid-19, as infection rates more than tripled over the past seven days.

It was only a few weeks ago that Cheshire West had the lowest level of infection of any local authority in mainland England, with a rolling rate of just five per 100,000.

However, this rate currently stands at 85 per 100,000, and is set to rise further over the coming days.

Speaking at a Covid-19 Outbreak Board Meeting on Wednesday, Council Chief Executive, Andrew Lewis, said: "I think this shows the amazing progress that we were making as a borough, both in our vaccine rollout and in the way residents were following public health advice.

"We got down to a level where the Covid-19 rate was running at around five per 100,000, which is an extraordinarily low level.

"This does show how quickly things can change with this virus and how transmissible it really is. A couple of things have happened in the last few weeks, the first being that we are moving through the roadmap and meeting more regularly with each other.

"We have also seen the new Delta variant first picked up in India. Thankfully, because we have the vaccine, the impact on people's health and on hospitalisations is much more limited – at least for now.

Outbreaks of the Delta variant are currently concentrated in Northwich and Winsford, and Council leaders thanked residents of those towns for following official advice and getting tested more regularly.

"We're really working hard to get the right facilities in place for the situation as we see it emerge," Mr Lewis said. "We know where the cases are, we're following the data very closely, we're in contact with representatives of the local community and we have a good system which is well-placed to be able to deal with the consequences of the latest chapter in the virus.

"[However], we are seeing a really significant increase in the number of cases. Just today our published rate is 85 per 100,000. So we've gone from five to 85 in that short period of time.

"We know from more recent data which has not yet been published that it is heading quickly above 100 [per 100,000].

"The good news is that, because the variant is infecting people in younger age groups, thankfully we haven't seen people in the age groups that are most susceptible to ill health being as badly affected.

"There have been increases in the number of people over 60 who are testing positive, but at much lower levels than the other age groups. That's positive because it does seem to show that the vaccine is having an important effect in protecting vulnerable people. But we shouldn't be complacent."

Council leader, Cllr Louise Gittins, added: Louise Gittins "The residents of Cheshire West have been absolutely amazing in the past year. Everyone has pulled together and looked out for each other. This is the final bit now and we just need to get those vaccinations out. It's so important."

In Cheshire West, 214,000 people – or three quarters of the eligible population - have had their first vaccine dose, with 152,000 having had their second as well.

However there are still 4,500 people over 60 who have not yet had their first dose and 8,500 who haven't had their second.

"We are redoubling our efforts to get the message out that the vaccine does provide you with really substantial protection," Mr Lewis said, adding that most of the people currently in hospital with the virus have not been vaccinated.

With this situation in mind, Council and healthcare leaders are now looking to increase its vaccination rates, especially taking into account Cheshire's proximity to Lancashire and Greater Manchester, where infection rates have been growing rapidly in recent weeks.

Cheshire NHS Clinical Commissioning Group's Clare Watson observed during the meeting that the county has the capacity to deliver 50,000 jabs a week, but is lacking the number of doses necessary for achieving this target.

Therefore, Cheshire West and Chester Council is one of several local authorities to have signed a letter to the Secretary of State for Health, Matt Hancock, urging the government to step up the region's vaccine supply.

As of this week, anyone over the age of 25 can begin to come forward for their first dose, with Ms Watson predicting that over-18s will be invited within the next couple of weeks.

Further information about Covid testing and vaccines is available on the Cheshire West and Chester Council website.

If you are eligible and yet to receive your first vaccine dose, you can arrange an appointment on the national booking service or by calling 119.