THERE were 144 new cases of coronavirus in St Helens in the latest official daily figures.

Public Health England statistics show that there were 144 cases of COVID-19 recorded in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday, October 20.

This is in line with daily rises over the past week.

The health body includes Pillar Two tests – those carried out in the wider community – alongside Pillar One tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme in the spring.

The latest published weekly rate of new infections in St Helens was 415.9 per 100,000 with 751 cases recorded between October 11 and 17.

This does not take into account the more recent days' numbers.

READ > Gyms and leisure centres can reopen in St Helens

Last week, St Helens was placed under Tier Three ‘very high alert’ level restrictions.

These include for people not to socialise with anybody they do not live with, or have formed a support bubble with, in any indoor setting or in any private garden or at most outdoor hospitality venues and ticketed events; not to socialise in a group of more than six in an outdoor public space and pubs and bars can only remain open where they operate as if they were a restaurant.

However, it has been announced today that gyms and leisure centres are to be able to reopen again.

In total, 4,470 people have been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 in St Helens, since the start of the outbreak in mid-March.

This means the overall rate of infection in St Helens since the start of the pandemic now stands at 2,475 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the equivalent England average of 1,150.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 21,330 over the period, to 762,542.

​St Helens' cases were among the 162,230 recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 5,037 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, asymptomatic, have recovered and those that have died.