Oldham and Salford have become new hotspots for coronavirus infections in Greater Manchester, according to the latest government statistics.
Figures released yesterday show an alarming spike in the number of people who tested positive for Covid-19 across the region.
There were 449 new cases in Greater Manchester - taking the total since the pandemic began to 8,111.
It is the second biggest daily increase reported so far, and the data shows that some areas of Greater Manchester are showing particularly large numbers of new cases.
Salford reported 76 additional cases yesterday, the biggest daily increase seen in the borough so far, taking its total to 884 infections.
There were 78 extra cases reported in Oldham, bringing the total number of Covid-19 infections there up to 886.
Three other boroughs - Manchester, Stockport and Wigan - have reported more cases in total than Oldham but when the numbers are adjusted for population size, Oldham now has the highest infection rate.
There have been 376 cases per 100,000 people in Oldham, which means the borough now ranks among the 15 council areas in England with the highest infection rates per head of population.
It is also significantly above the 322 cases per 100,000 people in Salford, which has the second highest infection rate in Greater Manchester.
Manchester, which has had the highest number of cases, is also the largest borough in terms of population so its infection rate is one of the lowest in the region at 230 cases per 100,000 people.
Oldham and Salford are showing the fastest growing infection rate, although Wigan also reported its biggest daily spike in new infections yesterday, with 82 new cases.
The increase in infections comes at a time when the number of deaths in hospitals across Greater Manchester appears to be on a downward trend.
Yesterday, there were 44 new deaths reported at hospitals in the region, taking the total to 1,483.
Figures for new infections are published every day by the government and have shown large fluctuations in the last couple of weeks.
This may be due to a change in testing policy with the NHS testing more people as the government aimed to reach its target of 100,000 tests a day nationwide by the end of April.
