Because I am a nerd, I've spent Sunday night looking at coronavirus stats and...it is very, very bad for Wirral.

In the week up to Friday, there were 75 new cases on the Wirral (and those numbers may increase) - that's more than anywhere else in Merseyside, treble the number in the previous week and an infection rate of 23 cases per 100,000 residents - the region's highest.

On a lower level, New Brighton's infection rate has now crept over 100 cases per 100,000 residents - the same sort of range that saw restrictions introduced in Toxteth/Princes Park in the city.

Egerton Park and Higher Bebington had infection rates in the 80s and Wirral had the six areas with the highest infection rates in the city region during the week up to August 26.

This is the picture in the city region - as you can see, Wirral has soared up to August 26 while everywhere else has dropped off or remained stable.

When we asked Wirral Council about this last week, they suggested the rise was due to more testing. Given the continuing rise, though, that now seems like a bit of a stretch.

You can see that story here - https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/wirral-coronavirus-spike-due-increased-18846595

It does also back up the findings of @timspector's study, which put Wirral on its watch list this week due to a rise in reports of people with coronavirus symptoms. https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/two-local-boroughs-now-coronavirus-18845603