There has been a sharp rise in the number of Covid cases across the country with 2,988 new cases reported on Sunday up from from 1,813, the highest number of new cases since 23 May.
Across Greater Manchester five areas are now considered to be on red alert with cases that over 50 per 100,000 being reported in Manchester, Salford, Oldham, Tameside and Bolton,the latter recording 115 cases per 100,000 by far the highest in England.
The death toll remains low, with two new deaths within 28 days of a positive test reported in the last 24 hours.
Part of the jump may be attributed to delays in test results with fears being expressed that people are being sent miles from their homes to get tested.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said:
“The rise in the number of cases that we have seen today is concerning.
“The cases are predominantly among younger people but we have seen in other countries across the world and in Europe this sort of rise in the cases among younger people lead to a rise across the population as a whole, so it so important that people don’t allow this illness to infect their grandparents and to lead to the sort of problems that we saw earlier in the year.”
