WEST Cumbria's two local authority areas are the only part of the county with Covid-19 infection rates above the England average.

According to the latest government data, both Allerdale and Copeland have seen a seven-day infection rate above the current England average of 74.4 per 100,000 of population.

Copeland's figure is reported to be 88 per 100,000 while in Allerdale it is currently 82.9.

In other areas of the county, there is better news, with all reporting seven-day infection rates below those of last month.

In Carlisle, the rate per 100,000 of population was 54.3 and in Eden it was 37.6, and in Barrow 59.7.

The lowest figure was recorded in South Lakeland - 33.3 per 100,000.

Two further Covid-19 deaths have been reported over this weekend by the NHS trust which runs The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and Whitehaven's West Cumberland Hospital.

Since the start of the pandemic, the two hospitals have reported the deaths of 561 covid patients - 278 of them since January 1.

As of this afteroon, at the south Cumbrian NHS trust which runs Furness General Hospital in Barrow, 571 fatalities had been reported.

Colin Cox, Cumbria's Director of Public Health, said he was encouraged by the latest drop in new cases - but he warned that this is not a reason to abandon lockdown rules that have driven those rates lower.

"I’m very conscious that schools will welcome all pupils back next week and that is a major change," he said.

"We’ll be watching the data very carefully to see what impact, if any, this has on infection rates. It remains really important that people stick to the Covid-19 restrictions and follow all the hygiene and physical distancing advice.

"It really does make a difference.”

Of the wider situation, Mr Cox added: "There are two things that are risks.

"One is the potential for new variants, where the vaccine is not as effective. These could arise at random.

"As we start vaccinate more and more people, if we give the virus a chance to spread while we're doing that, then you risk what's called vaccine escape: that's effectively when by vaccinating you're putting pressure on the virus to evolve to resist the vaccine.

"It's possible that can happen. So clearly it's very important we not only vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible but that while we're doing that we don't give the vaccine the chance to circulate if we can possibly avoid it.

"The rules must absolutely stay in place until we're sure we have a very substantial proportion of people vaccinated." Nearly 40 per cent of the county's adults have had a first jab.