IT is a week today since Boris Johnson again told people to stay at home as coronavirus cases surged.

We are into our third national lockdown since March.

This time schools are closed along with non-essential shops, restaurants and bars.

People are also being told to only travel if essential and go out once a day for exercise.

So how many cases are there in Warrington at the moment?

The past week has seen the highest number of people testing positive since the pandemic began (although community testing was not widely available in the spring.

At the last count on Sunday, there were 311 new people with a confirmed positive test result reported.

That takes the number of people to have tested positive in Warrington since the start of the pandemic to 12,663.

Over the last seven day period recorded, close to 1,500 new cases of coronavirus were recorded in Warrington over the past week, the latest Public Health England data shows.

In the seven days up to January 3, a total of 1,493 new Covid-19 cases were found in the town.

This has risen again compared with the seven days up to January 2 (1,407) and is more than double the figure from the previous week up to December 27 (659).

As such, Warrington’s rate of new cases now stands at 710.9 per 100,000 people – the 97th highest in England.

How about at the hospital?

As of Friday, 152 people were being treated for Covid, down on the high of 170 in November.

25 people were in intensive care though, the highest during the pandemic.

The number of people to have died in Warrington Hospital is 329.

And in the past seven days, 85 Warrington residents have been admitted.

How is the vaccine going?

The first patients to get the Oxford vaccine in Warrington were seen on Friday.

The Pfizer vaccine has been administered since December. More than 2,500 people have had the vaccine in Warrington so far.

People will be contacted to book in for the vaccine. There is no need to call your GP.

Vaccinations are being held at Orford Hub, The Halliwell Jones Stadium and GP surgeries. Some residents have also been invited to the mass vaccination centre in Manchester.

Warrington Guardian:

Is there going to be extra testing?

For the first time in Warrington, from today, Monday, people without symptons can get a test.

The South Stand of the Halliwell Jones Stadium and Grappenhall CricketClub will be used in order to deliver lateral flow tests.

Each site will carry out hundreds of tests per day in order to identify people who may have Covid-19 but are asymptomatic and could pass the virus on to other unknowingly.

For the first week, the testing centres will be open from 12pm to 6pm on weekdays and from 8am to 3.30pm on Saturdays with no need to book in advance.

Anyone who is displaying symptoms must not attend and should instead book a test via gov.uk or by calling 119.