MORE than 300 cases of coronavirus were recorded across schools and early years settings in Warrington last week.

And now Warrington Borough Council have confirmed they are working with a small number of schools to manage ‘clusters of cases’.

As of November 26, the exact number of infected cases in schools and early years settings in the town stood at 325.

This follows the news of the spread of the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, which has not reached Warrington – but the council has urged residents to be ‘extra vigilant’.

As well as mandatory face covering rules being brought back into place, the government have also ‘strongly advised’ staff, visitors, and pupils in year seven and above to wear masks in communal areas.

A spokesperson said: “Following the government announcement about the Omicron COVID-19 variant and the measures that are being reintroduced in schools, including wearing face coverings in secondary school communal areas and on public transport, we are currently not advising any further measures.

“Our public health and education teams are working with a small number of schools and early years settings to manage clusters of cases.”

Warrington has also seen a rise in the number of coronavirus rates.

In the seven days leading to November 24, the recent period for which data is available, 877 positive cases were returned in the town – a rise from the previous week.

The town’s director of public health,Thara Raj, said: “Although there are no confirmed cases in Warrington, we need to be extra vigilant as we start to mix with more people over the coming weeks.

“If you haven’t already, I’d encourage anyone eligible to take up the offer of both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine plus the booster when they can as it really is your best line of defence against the virus and any new variants.”