Every 'care home resident' and care home staff member in Congleton and the rest of Cheshire has been offered their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.

That is according to Clare Watson, who is the Accountable Officer for the NHS organisation organising the county's vaccination programme.

She said the feat had been achieved last Sunday (January 24) in an appearance at Cheshire West council's Covid-19 Outbreak Board.

The NHS Cheshire CCG representative said: "All 18 primary care sites went live on January 17. As of Sunday, all our care home residents and care [home staff] have received their first dose, which is fantastic.

"It's really good progress. Everyone is working incredibly hard but also, they're incredibly committed.

"We have really challenging deadlines, but we are confident with the modelling and work we are doing that we will hit those.

"This is all dependent on the availability of the vaccine, but we are on track. Across the North West, we are now at one million people vaccinated."

At the same meeting, Ms Watson confirmed that work had begun on immunising homeless people in the area, who will now be placed in priority group four — clinically extremely vulnerable individuals.

She said: "We are also getting to work on the hard to reach vulnerable and homeless vaccinated.

"Homeless people sit within priority group 4 regionally."

Yesterday (January 27), Cheshire West recorded 168 new coronavirus cases, with Cheshire East seeing a further 221 positive tests.

Despite both figures being increases on Tuesday's (January 26) numbers, both boroughs continue to see seven-day rolling infection rates fall.

In Cheshire West, the rate now stands at 357.9 cases per 100,000 people, with Cheshire East's figure being 256.9.