WORCESTER’S MP says the rise in Coronavirus cases in Worcestershire, and nationally, is a reminder we are "not in a normal situation".

He was speaking after the latest Public Health England figures showed Worcester had, during the week to September 4, a rise to an infection rate of 10.9 per 100,000 people.

Cases have also gone up across the country in recent days, leading to England's deputy chief medical officer, Professor Van Tam, saying it was of "great concern" as people had "relaxed too much".

Robin Walker MP said the rise was something the government was keeping a "very close eye on".

The MP said: "Some people might feel as children get back to school and more people are in the workplace things have returned to normal - this is a reminder people do need to keep taking precautions.

"The virus has not gone away, as we head into the colder part of the year the NHS will have a lot of challenges to deal with - we want to keep the pressure off.  "The good news is that there are very few people in hospital at the moment - just one patient in all Worcestershire hospitals with Covid - which implies that there aren't as many serious cases as there have been in the past.  "But that is not something we can take for granted."

Meanwhile Malvern saw a rise to 17.8 per 100,000. Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, said: “I spoke to the Director of Public Health yesterday and the number of local cases is still low.

“Local people have made great sacrifices as we work together to slow the spread of this terrible virus.

"Worcestershire County Council has a comprehensive plan to establish local control measures and I hope that, by following the rules, we can continue to keep the number of cases low.”