THE coronavirus crisis has completely changed the way of life in Warrington.

While causing tragedy and despair, the pandemic has also resulted in major disruption across the town.

Here are 10 things you may not have known about coronavirus in the borough.

Warrington Guardian:

Death rate

The pandemic has caused an unimaginable amount of pain and tragedy in the town.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, as of May 29, there had been 1,059 deaths in Warrington during 2020, with 213 of these related to coronavirus.

Home working

The crisis has resulted in the majority of Warrington Borough Council’s workforce working from home.

The council now has around 1,500 employees regularly working at home for most of their duties.

This follows work it undertook in mid-March to increase its home-working capacity.

Warrington Guardian:

Social media

The council has been busy keeping residents updated during the crisis.

The authority’s Covid-19 section of its website has received a total of 315,116 views during the pandemic.

Financial support

The Government and council have been praised for providing support to businesses during the crisis.

The council was allocated £36.5 million of funding to support businesses and has, so far, distributed around £33.8 million to those who are eligible to receive funding support.

Warrington Guardian:

Contact Centre

The Contact Centre has taken 74 per cent of all Covid-19 related calls and helped train volunteers and redeployed staff to support over 9,000 shielded or vulnerable residents.

The other 26 per cent of Covid-19 related calls came to the out of hours helpline, which was set up at the end of March.

Food packages

Through the ‘safe and well’ scheme, the council has distributed 4,308 food packages to vulnerable households.

On top of this, through its partnership arrangement, it has referred 64 households to Warrington Foodbank for support.

Warrington Guardian:

Housing support

As those in need of housing often don’t have phones or access to the internet, the borough’s office service has continued to run at the Gateway.

A wide range of measures have been implemented to ensure that it complied with social distancing, while interview rooms were cleaned every time they were used.

In April 2020, it received 197 new applications. In May, that number stood at 235.

Fly-tipping problems

At the height of the pandemic, there was a 350 per cent increase in fly-tipping and a 900 per cent increase in bonfire complaints.

The council said this is a ‘phenomenal amount of activity for a relatively small team’, adding the service is committed to ensuring the public remain informed and protected.

Warrington Guardian:

Public protection

The public protection team has continued to play an important role in the fight against Covid-19.

The council has spoken to more than 340 businesses about restrictions and have responded to concerns over social distancing in the workplace.

Highways work

The highway asset maintenance team has continued to deliver highway maintenance services while also providing support to other service areas.

The team has walked and inspected 900km of highway, investigated and actioned 472 public highway-related enquiries, completed 1,109 highway safety repairs and attended 69 emergency call-outs.