Good evening

Cases in some parts of the county, including here in Preston, South Ribble and Chorley, seem to be rising even though we are still in lockdown and in theory there should be no chance for Covid to spread.

Of course, many of these cases may date from the restrictions being lifted over the Christmas period, when people were allowed to mix with another household. But given we have been under a series of ever-tightening restrictions since September, that is a worrying trend.

Thankfully, more people are being called for vaccinations, which should see more of us being protected and the case numbers falling in the longer term. More sites, including Blackburn Cathedral, are being used as major vaccination centres, although not enough local pharmacies are being involved. But there are still people who are concerned that they have not yet had notification of when their jab will take place - even though people over 70 are now set to receive letters from this week.

We have upped our game in the past week, but we have to move faster if we want to get back to normal any time soon.

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