Cheshire West and Chester Council's Outbreak Board are calling for more stringent restrictions on household mixing within the borough following a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.

In yesterday's meeting, Ian Ashworth, the Council's Director of Public Health, reported that Cheshire West's infection rate has trebled since August, meaning that it now sits at around 55 cases per 100,000 members of the population.

This time last week, there were only 33 cases per 100,000, and on September 10th, there were 19. The most affected group remains those aged 20-39, although cases amongst the over-65s are rising.

The majority of cases are attributed to household transmission, and although there have been some in schools and university campuses, it is believed that they were contracted in the community.

Mr Ashworth added that it was only three weeks ago that Merseyside authorities, whose confirmed cases are now exceeding 240 per 100,000 people, found themselves in the same position as Cheshire West.

This suggests that if Cheshire West and Chester Council fail to act now, the borough may experience the same sharp rise in cases that has occurred in Liverpool and other neighbouring local authority areas.

In Warrington, there are currently 165 cases per 100,000, while Wirral is seeing 150 cases per 100,000. Meanwhile, in Cheshire East, the rate remains in the 40s, putting Cheshire West at a slightly more worrying juncture in the progress of its Covid-19 management.

Council Leader, Cllr Louise Gittins, said: "It's clear that we're now entering a new phase."

"We've done so well in Cheshire West to keep infection rates lower than many other areas on our doorstep, and it is important to recognise and pay tribute to the amazing work that everyone has done over a number of months and continues to do on a daily basis.

"But at the same time, we are not immune from the challenges being experienced by many of our neighbouring authorities.

"We need to make sure we're doing everything we can to arrest the trend in Cheshire, to stay on top of the local infection rate and continue to protect the health and wellbeing of all of our residents.

"There are likely to be some big decisions ahead of us, and the success of those decisions will depend on the extent to which our citizens in Cheshire West buy into them."

The Council are eager to push for greater coronavirus testing capacity within the borough, as well as increased deployment of officers charged with enforcing hygiene and social distancing measures in businesses and public spaces.

However, knowing that a rise in infections will normally only take three weeks to convert into a rise in hospital admissions and deaths, Cheshire West and Chester doubts that these measures will be enough to avoid putting increased strain on our health services.

Cheshire West's hospitals have already reported Covid patients entering their intensive care units, and so the Council believe that now is the time to act.

Charlotte Walton, Cheshire West's Commissioning Manager for Adult Social Care and Health, also pointed out that, while on July 28th there was only one care home in the area with a coronavirus outbreak, by September 1st there were six and by September 25th there were 13.

Cheshire West is already subject to national Covid-prevention measures, including the government's rule of six, the mandatory wearing of face coverings, the compulsory registration of contact tracing details and the 10pm curfew for licensed premises.

Council Chief Executive, Andrew Lewis, added: "We are [also] able, where we need to, to take local measures under the Health Protection Regulations, that enable the Council to step in where we feel that public health is being jeopardised, either by a facility, or by an event or social gathering."

However, Cheshire West is not yet under the tighter restrictions that are currently in force in Merseyside, Warrington and Halton. It is not within the Council's power to impose such restrictions, but it is thought that ministers would be receptive to the idea if it were put to them.

Cllr Gittins said: "We would rather do something sooner than later.

"Next time we meet, I don't want to be looking back and saying "I wish we'd done something then." That's my big concern.

"We need to work with Cheshire East, to help save confusion, particularly in our border areas around Northwich and Middlewich.

"I think, with a very heavy heart, we should look to restrict movement between households. It's not something that I want to do – I didn't come into this to put restrictions on people – but I really think we need to do this for the greater good.

"We need to protect those people that are clinically vulnerable to Covid-19, not just within our borough but in our neighbouring boroughs as well.

"We will work closely with Cheshire East to talk to the government about the possibility of some extra restrictions around households mixing with each other."

If the government do decide to impose increased restrictions in the Cheshire West and Chester borough, they will not necessarily take the same form as those in force in neighbouring local authority areas.

More to follow.

Watch the webcast of the meeting HERE