Cheshire's NHS Trusts are treating nearly 70 per cent fewer Covid-19 patients than they were a month ago, new data reveals.

NHS England data shows that, on March 2, 44 patients were being treated in The Countess of Chester Trust, and 66 in Mid Cheshire Trust facilities.

That total of 135 is 69 per cent lower than the figure 28 days ago, which was 441. The Countess fall from 153 to 44 patients represents a 71 per cent fall.

Mid Cheshire was caring for 174 residents a month ago, and its fall to 66 this week represents a 62 per cent drop.

Meanwhile, Warrington and Halton Hospitals Trust are currently caring for 80 Covid-positive patients, down from 223 on February 1. Eight of these people are being treated in ICU, as compared to 23 at the peak of this wave of infections.

Across England there were 10,121 people in hospital with Covid as of March 2, with 1,556 of them in mechanical ventilation beds.

The number of Covid-19 patients hospitalised nationally has decreased by 63 per cent in the last four weeks, while the number on mechanical ventilators has decreased by 53 per cent.

The news comes as it was revealed yesterday (March 4) that NHS officials had given a first dose to more than four in ten adults in Cheshire and Merseyside — a week after a key one said she was confident of meeting the target for all jabs to be done.

Clare Watson, Accountable Officer of NHS Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group — the body running the roll-out — said on February 24: "We are confident in terms of capacity, in terms of primary care network sites, and in terms of vaccination centres that we have the right capacity overall.

"The big challenge is cohort 10, which is 16-49 year olds by July 31. We understand that that cohort is going to be age-stratified and risk-stratified in the coming weeks because they do not want to open it up in one go.

"We are on track to deliver that. We have got great workers and lots of capacity to vaccinate patients.

"They will all be offered their vaccine by the end of July."