We are now just five days away from 29 March, the date when we will legally be allowed to meet up with more than one person from outside our household for the first time since the New Year.

From Monday, the 'stay at home' order will be lifted and up to six people will be able to gather outdoors, including in private gardens. However, indoor mixing will still be banned.

So, ahead of this next stage in the roadmap out of lockdown, how is the Covid-19 situation looking in our local area?

In Frodsham, case numbers have remained low over the past week. In the seven days leading up to 18 March, five new infections made for a rate of 55 per 100,000, just below the national average of 57 per 100,000.

Meanwhile, in the area covering Helsby, Kingsley, Manley and Alvanley, a near threefold increase in the number of new cases has brought rates back up to their February level of 118 per 100,000. In the seven days preceding 11 March there were four infections, as compared to 11 last week.

In the villages surrounding Frodsham and Helsby, case numbers remain in single figures, with three in Elton, MickleTrafford and Barrow, four in Beechwood and five in the area covering Sutton Weaver, Aston and Acton Bridge.

The average rolling rate for west Cheshire currently sits at 68.5 per 100,000, after dipping down to 59 last week.

The number of Cheshire people with at least one vaccine dose had reached 314,000 by 18 March, with nearly 11,000 having also received their second.

At this time, 49 per cent of 55-59-year-olds and 85 per cent of 60-64-year-olds had been inoculated.

Amazingly, NHS statistics suggest that 100 per cent of Cheshire 75-79-year-olds have received their first dose, as the number of jabs administered exceeds official population size estimates for this age group.

Sources: Public Health England and NHS England