A rise in new coronavirus cases has left Sefton with the highest infection rate on Merseyside, according to the latest figures.

New Covid-19 cases more than doubled in the borough last week, with 38 confirmed new cases in the seven days leading up to August 14. Eight of these cases were found in the Birkdale area of Southport, suggesting a potential small outbreak there.

The figures, released yesterday by Public Health England, also show that cases on Merseyside as a whole have plateaued after doubling towards the end of July and the beginning of August.

Last week saw 162 new cases across the Liverpool City Region, slightly up from 152 the previous week.

Apart from Sefton, most boroughs have reflected this wider pattern of a rise in cases during the last week of July and the first week of August followed by cases remaining steady at the higher level.

So far, however, the rise in cases has not been accompanied by a rise in coronavirus deaths and overall numbers remain low. In the city region as a whole, there were just 10.39 new cases per 100,000 residents last week compared to the English average of seven cases per 100,000 people.

Sefton’s rate was slightly higher at 13.75 new cases per 100,000 residents but this is still well below the levels seen in places like Greater Manchester and Blackburn. In Blackburn, for instance, there were around 88 new cases per 100,000 residents last week.

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On Merseyside, Wirral had the lowest rate of new cases with just four per 100,000 residents, while concerns expressed about outbreaks in Halton and St Helens have not yet been reflected in official figures.

Halton’s rate of new infections stood at 8.5 – up on two weeks ago but not far from the national average – while St Helens saw its rate decline from 14.4 to 10 over the course of the week.

Liverpool itself saw new cases rise slightly to 13.25 per 100,000 while in Knowsley new infections fell after the spike in east Huyton was contained.