Staffordshire County Council has expressed "cautious optimism" as Covid-19 cases fall across the area – and a board set up to respond to the pandemic is now set to meet less frequently.

The Local Outbreak Control Board in Staffordshire is moving to monthly meetings, while district and borough groups are being stood down, it has been revealed.

The move comes as the requirement for people with Covid-19 to self-isolate for at least five days looks set to end in England at the end of this month.

Councillor Johnny McMahon, cabinet support member for public health and integrated care, presented updates from the Local Outbreak Control Board at Thursdays's full council meeting and a cabinet session on Wednesday.

He said: "I'm glad to be able to tell the chamber that for the first time I'm managing to give you a broadly positive report.

"Although there is still very high community spread, significant disruption to education, the economy and our way of life, the numbers are coming down in all districts and boroughs and we are less than the England average. The direction of travel gives us some cause for comfort.

"Over the past few weeks all-cause mortality has been less than for the average of the past five years. Covid admissions (to hospital) are steady, they're not going up.

"But if you add the Covid and non-Covid admissions it does create a challenge for the hospitals. Winter is always a challenge for the hospitals. They're still seeing many of their staff go off with Covid but that looks like it's beginning to level off.

"It's broadly a good news story. This is why we have decided that the Local Outbreak Control Board will now only meet once a month and the Local Outbreak Control Groups for districts and boroughs will currently stand down.

"Nothing will stand down permanently, in the sense they can be brought back very quickly if things change. That gives you some degree of understanding of the cautious optimism the director of public health and ourselves have in the way things are going at the moment."

A report from Dr Richard Harling, director of health and care at Staffordshire County Council, said the authority had plans in place to maintain a "proportionate" response over the next year and was prepared for a range of scenarios.

It added: "A major risk is the emergence of a new variant that escapes the protection afforded by vaccination. However current expectations are that as we enter 2022/23 Covid will become an endemic infection that we will be managing largely as a symptomatic illness.

"Covid cases rates are likely to remain high and there may be a degree of seasonality with cases lower in the summer and higher in the winter. Vaccination should protect most people from the more serious complications and whilst the illness will be unpleasant it should be manageable without unsustainable pressures on health and care services.

"We would like to thank residents, schools, businesses, the voluntary sector, care providers, the NHS, the council's own staff and everyone else who has been involved in the Covid response so far. It has been a magnificent collective effort and leaves Staffordshire in a great position to face the future."