More than 1,000 coronavirus patients have died in the second wave of the pandemic in Greater Manchester, the MEN can reveal.
Figures released by the NHS show there have been a total of 3,247 deaths among Covid-19 patients at hospital trusts in the region so far.
Analysis of the statistics published since March reveals that the first wave peaked on April 16th and then the number of deaths fell steadily over the following weeks.
The death toll reached its lowest point in the week which ended on August 16, when six patients lost their lives in NHS Trusts in the region over a period of seven days.
At that time, a total of 2,167 coronavirus patients had died in the hospital trusts around the Greater Manchester region.
But after August 16, the numbers of Covid-19 fatalities began to rise again and deaths are still climbing as the region remains in the midst of a second wave of the virus.
The number of deaths recorded in the second wave since August 16 has now passed 1,000, with the most recent figures showing that 1,080 patients have died in hospitals in the region since that date.
It means that almost exactly a third of the hospital deaths in Greater Manchester have occurred during the second wave, and there are no signs yet that the rising death toll has peaked again.
However, coronavirus infection rates are now falling across Greater Manchester, the latest figures show.
Some boroughs have seen the number of cases drop by more than 20 per cent week-on-week, with Wigan seeing its rate fall by almost a third.
It is hoped that the drop in infection rate will lead to a fall in the death rates, although there is likely to be a delay of at least a couple of week before that is seen in the statistics.
Public Health England figures show that in the week up to November 11 the Greater Manchester-wide infection rate was 452.4 per 100,000 people.
That's still far higher than England's nationwide average of 270.5.
The whole of England is in a national lockdown until December 2, which means that all but non-essential shops are closed with gyms, hairdressers, beauty salons all shut.
Once the lockdown ends, the government has indicated that local authorities will go back to the Tiered system of restrictions, depending on coronavirus infection rates.
Greater Manchester had been in Tier 2 since July followed by Tier 3 restrictions - the highest level.
The total number of coronavirus deaths at hospital trusts in Greater Manchester, as of Monday, November 16, are:
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust - 322 (96 of these were in the 'second wave' since August 16)
Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust 9 (0)
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust - 600 (155)
NHS Nightingale Hospital North West - 6 (0)
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust - 879 (319)
Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust 6 (0)
Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust - 275 (94)
Stockport NHS Foundation Trust -295 (66)
Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust - 381 (163)
The Christie NHS Foundation Trust 17 (4)
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust - 441 (188)
