THERE has been a big fall in the number of new Covid-19 infections in Shropshire.

But whilst the number of infections reported in the most recent seven day period for which figures are available fell, there remains pressure on hospital beds in the county.

Forty-seven hospital beds were occupied by people with the virus and there were two death related to the Covid-19. In the week there were 1,850 new cases reported.

"It is really encouraging to see the number of Covid-19 cases falling; however, we do need to be cautious when interpreting the data because of the recent changes to testing, removing the need for a confirmatory PCR," said Rachel Robinson, Shropshire’s Director of Public Health.

"It is also really positive that there are less people being treated for Covid-19 in our local hospitals. During this time, there were two deaths in hospital.

During the last week Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals declared two ‘critical incidents.’ There is exceptionally high demand for NHS services, as well as the ongoing impacts from Covid-19. We know the vast majority of people who fall seriously ill with the virus and need hospital treatment, are not vaccinated, so please protect yourself."