As many children return to the classroom for the first time in months and Covid cases reach a Staffordshire five-month low, Staffordshire County Council is keen to underline the need to keep on track and stick to the rules.

The first step of the government's roadmap out of lockdown took place today and cases are continuing to fall across the county. The latest figures show around 75 new cases every week per 100,000 population, which is the lowest for the county since early October of last year.

However, this is still above the England average of around 62 new cases per 100,000 population.

County health officials are keen to remind residents Coronavirus remains a serious threat and the importance of hands, face, space and getting tested regularly increases as more freedoms return.

Dr Johnny McMahon Staffordshire County Council's Cabinet Member for Health, Care and Wellbeing, said: "It is great Staffordshire children are returning to school, cases numbers are falling, and vaccine take up is good; but it is vital we don't lose focus and we stay on track.

"We can't be tempted to think as more freedoms are made available that the risk to our health and livelihoods is not significant. This is not the case – the risk remains very high.

"Staffordshire is still in national lockdown and people should stay at home unless they have a permitted reason.

"We must keep sticking to the rules and getting tested regularly or the roadmap to normality could be very short-lived."

Residents are now able to walk in to one of the community testing sites to get a rapid Covid-19 test. Walk ins are subject to availability at each individual site - to secure a slot, booking on the community testing sites page is still recommended.

There will also be pop-up community testing sites at various locations supporting the above.

People with symptoms or those who have been asked to self-isolate as a close contact of a Covid case should not attend.