COVID cases have started to rise again among schoolchildren in Cheshire East but the numbers are significantly lower than a few weeks ago.

Director of public health Matt Tyrer told a meeting of Cheshire East Council's health and wellbeing board: "With Omicron we saw the highest rates in Cheshire East that we had seen for the entirety of the pandemic. I think we peaked just before 2,000 per 100,000 and we have fallen quite sharply in the last couple of weeks of January but that has now stalled.

"So we fell from near 2,000 per 100,000 to just into the high 990s just before this weekend and we are now around 1,013 per 100,000.

"The older age groups are continuing to fall but we are once again starting to see a rise in both primary and younger secondary aged children, so that's the five to nine age groups and the 10 to 14 age groups."

Dr Tyrer encouraged people who weren't yet fully vaccinated to get the jabs.

"Getting that booster is absolutely the best thing to do especially as we move towards a reduction in some of those restrictions that have been in place for such a long time," said the health chief.

"That being said people can continue to protect themselves, particularly if we are in the position of seeing rising cases again, by continuing to wear masks should they choose to in public settings, maintaining really good hand hygiene and keeping a distance from people where it is possible and safe to do so."

He said as the situation alters over the next few weeks in terms of changes in national policy health chiefs will look at how to "continue to keep people as safe as possible".

"That may mean that, as the testing landscape changes, our focus shifts towards protecting those who are most vulnerable in our communities, rather than a more universal approach that we have been taking," he added.