Matt Hancock has announced that the Covid restrictions for Bolton will be brought in line with those for the rest of Greater Manchester.
Speaking in the House Of Commons, the Health Secretary also announced that stricter lockdown rules will be brought in across Liverpool,Warrington Hartlepool and Middlesborough.
The government is recommending against all social mixing between people from different households in these areas and would bring in regulations to ban social mixing between people from different households in all settings except outdoor public spaces like parks and outdoor hospitality
He said the government was also advising people not to attend sporting events as spectators in the areas affected.It was advising people to only visit care homes in exceptional circumstances.
A total of 31,373 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to September 23, according to the latest Test and Trace figures.
This is an increase of 61 per cent in positive cases on the previous week and is the highest weekly number since Test and Trace was launched at the end of May.
A major study has found that the growth in Covid-19 cases may be slowing down in England.
Analysing samples from 84,000 people chosen at random from across the country, a team at Imperial College London found the R number appears to have fallen since measures including the “rule of six” were ushered in.
Coronavirus could be contained in pockets of the country because Britain is not yet seeing the same national outbreak it did in spring, the chief medical officer for England has said.
Chris Whitty said that the second wave was looking more localised than the first and illness and deaths could end up “very highly concentrated” in some areas.
