MORE than 260 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across Cheshire East and West in 24 hours.

New figures from Public Health England cover the period up 9am today, October 20.

In Cheshire East, including Knutsford and Middlewich, there were 134 new Covid-19 cases in the 24 hours up to 9am today.

That takes the borough's total to 4,795 cases since the pandemic started.

Meanwhile in Cheshire West, including Northwich and Winsford, there were 128 new cases in the 24 hours up to 9am today.

That takes the borough's total to 4,550 cases since the pandemic began.

In total, 262 new cases have been confirmed across both boroughs, higher than the 225 new cases confirmed yesterday.

Meanwhile, the latest seven-day rolling infection rates have also been provided by Public Health England, covering the week up to October 16.

Cheshire West now has an infection rate of 190.3 per 100,000 people following 653 cases in the week up to October 16.

That is a slight drop on the rate of 190.9 from exactly one week earlier – but an increase from the rate of 183.6 per 100,000 in the seven days up to October 15.

For Cheshire East, the rate now stands at 166.6 per 100,000 people after 640 cases in the week up to October 16.

That is an increase from 164.5 per 100,000 one week ago, but a slight drop from the figure of 167.6 in the seven days up to October 15.

Elsewhere in Cheshire, Warrington's rate now stands at 329.5 per 100,000 people, while Halton's is 324.5.

Nottingham continues to be the worst hit borough in England for coronavirus infection, with a rate of 672 per 100,000 people, although this is a significant drop from 987.1 a week ago.