CUMBRIA did not face a flood of visitors over the weekend as the nation adjusted to a relaxation of the lockdown rules designed to beat coronaivirus.

But the county’s most senior public health official has warned people in the county not to be tempted to relax their vigilance in the weeks ahead as experts continued to warn about the worrying possibility of second wave of infections and deaths.

Cumbria’s director of public health Colin Cox said the county’s Covid-19 death rate - after an initially rapid rise in hospitals which peaked in early April - was continuing to decline. There is also evidence that the situation in Cumbria’s care homes has improved, he said.

On Sunday, the NHS trusts with hospitals in Carlisle, Whitehaven and Barrow, had a day when no new Covid-19 deaths were reported, with a total of 303 fatalities.

North Cumbria Integrated Care Foundation Trust - which runs The Cumberland Infirmary in Carlisle and West Cumberland Hospital in Whitehaven - has confirmed the 146 deaths.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay Foundation Trust, which is in charge of Furness General Hospital and another hospital in Lancaster, has had 157 fatalities, with none reported on five consecutive days. Across Cumbria, there have been 167 estimated coronavirus deaths in care homes.

Whether the impact of the virus will continue to lessen will depend on the degree to which people stick with the necessary social distancing and hygiene measures, said Mr Cox. “The virus is still out there, and still circulating,” he said.

“If people relax and forget that then it could come back. But I think the majority of people are still supporting the lockdown measures.” Mr Cox said he was pleased to see that fears of a flood of visitors descending on the Lake District over the weekend were thankfully not realised.

“It wasn’t as busy as we’d feared it might be,” he said.

Mr Cox said he was pleased to learn that planned gatherings by lockdown protesters - in Carlisle’s Bitts Park, in Penrith, and in Workington - were ignored.

“Nobody turned up,” he said, adding that it showed his faith in the good sense of Cumbrians was justified. In London, police made 19 arrests during a protest at Hyde Park. Among those arrested was Jeremy Corbyn’s brother Piers.

Some claimed the pandemic was “fabricated” as an excuse to remove freedoms. Carlisle city councillor Lee Sherriff joined the many people who criticised the protesters. She said: “Each and every one of those ‘protesters’ should be made to sign a form saying that, if they catch Covid-19 and need medical help, it will not be given.

South Lakes MP Tim Farron thanked the public for not rushing back to the Lake District, saying: “Large gatherings at this time would’ve been a dangerous risk both for local residents and for visitors – so it’s great most people used their common sense and stayed away.”

The World Health Organisation fears Europe may see a deadly second wave of Covid-19 in the winter.