CUMBRIA'S top health official has warned residents that coronavirus infection rates may not continue to fall without continued effort from the public.

While the  number of new COVID-19 infections in Cumbria continued to drop in week ending 19 February, down 24% from the previous week (555 compared to 728) Barrow, Allerdale and Copeland continue to have infections rates above the England average of 120/100,000.

Colin Cox, Cumbria's Director of Public Health, said: "This week the Prime Minister announced the roadmap for exiting lockdown.

"I welcome that but we must all recognise that we still have high infection rates, well above those of last summer, and we cannot just assume that infections will continue to fall.

“They will only fall if we keep following the guidance and don’t act as if lockdown has already been lifted.

"This is a critical point and the Prime Minister has been clear that restrictions will not be eased if the data does not support it.

"That’s why we all must keep going for a while longer and get infection rates right down.”

"While some districts saw small increases, more recent data from this week has confirmed these to be related to specific outbreaks rather than indicative of a general increase."

While some districts saw small increases, more recent data from this week has confirmed these to be related to specific outbreaks rather than indicative of a general increase.

The number of new patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19 decreased from the previous week in both North Cumbria Integrated Care (NCIC) and University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust (UHMB) by -19% and -31% respectively.