Coronavirus: Cheshire councils call for more resources to fight Covid-19

The councils want support to improve testing and enforcement of Covid-19 rules

Three councils have written to the health secretary to request additional resources to deal with Covid-19.

Warrington, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester want support "to bring the outbreak under control" and have asked for help in areas such as testing and enforcement of coronavirus rules.

Cheshire East's leader Sam Corcoran said a rise in cases meant action was "required" to avoid a local lockdown.

The Department of Health has been approached for comment.

Stricter restrictions were announced for Warrington on 1 October, following a rise in Covid-19 cases in the area, the day after Cheshire West and Chester said it would ask the government to impose tougher rules in the borough.

Government figures showed that on 2 October, Warrington had an infection rate of 199 cases per 100,000 people, while Cheshire East recorded 113 cases per 100,000 and Cheshire West and Chester had 118 cases per 100,000.

Mr Corcoran said the three Labour-led authorities were "trying to work with government to avoid the need for additional restrictions to be imposed on us".

"We have repeatedly tried to avoid lockdown and further restrictions and we have focussed our request on measures that we believe will put us in the best position to tackle Covid-19 without resorting to a blanket lockdown," he added.

Cheshire West and Chester Council leader Louise Gittins, said the borough's inclusion on the government's watch-list "as an area of concern is a fair reflection of the position we face, with an increasing level of infection".

She added that the council expected to in the coming days if its previous request for tighter restrictions had been granted, but said even if it was not, "we feel even stricter measures will need to be implemented in the future if cases continue to rise".