Covid: Liverpool residents urged to get tested in hotspots

Liverpool has recorded a rise in Covid cases

People living in three Covid hotspots in Liverpool are being urged to get tested as soon as possible.

Greenbank, Picton and Riverside currently have the highest rate of coronavirus infections in the city.

Liverpool's director of public health Matthew Ashton said the rate of infections had "rocketed over the last few weeks in those age groups which have not yet been fully vaccinated".

He urged people in those areas to get tested in the next three days.

Liverpool and Knowsley are currently listed in the top 20 places for Covid infections in the country with a rate of 356 and 338 cases per 100,000 people respectively.

Greenbank, Picton and Riverside had 335 cases in the seven days up to 26 June, accounting for about one in five of the 1,826 confirmed infections across the city over the past week.

More than 70% of cases in the city are now in people aged under 45.

Mr Ashton said it was a "stark reminder that Covid-19 has not gone away and still poses a danger to people".

"It is absolutely vital we continue to do everything we can to keep it under control," he said.

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In neighbouring Knowsley, the Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) factory in Halewood has suffered another outbreak of Covid.

Three people from the same 10-person team are understood to have tested positive for the virus, the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme said.

It is the latest in a series of outbreaks at the factory, including one in January that saw production come to a standstill.

Some workers have questioned the adequacy of JLR's safety procedures in light of the repeated outbreaks.

But JLR has blamed the outbreak on an increase in transmission in the community and said the safety of its employees was its primary concern.

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