NO deaths of coronavirus-positive patients have been reported at Warrington Hospital in the past 24 hours.

The encouraging news was revealed by Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in its daily virus update.

As a result, the hospital trust’s Covid-19 death toll remains at 471.

The number of Covid-positive patients has also dropped again, with 80 beds at Warrington Hospital occupied as of this afternoon, Friday.

Of this 80, eight are in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

A further seven patients have been discharged from the Lovely Lane site since yesterday after beating the virus, bringing the discharge total since the start of the pandemic to 1,810.

To date, the trust has conducted 67,671 coronavirus tests, with 5,099 returning positive.

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Across the borough, fewer than 200 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the week up to February 28, which is the most recent period for which Public Health England is available.

The total number of positive Covid-19 tests returned in the town dropped to 190, which is the equivalent of 90.5 infections for every 100,000 residents – the 106th highest rate in the country.

By comparison, 267 new cases were reported in the previous week leading up to February 21, or 127.1 cases per 100,000 people.