New areas of Greater Manchester have become hotspots for coronavirus cases over the last week.
Firswood in the north of Trafford has seen 14 new cases between August 14 and August 20.
The area joins the likes of Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall South in Manchester, which have seen 10 and 13 new cases respectively in the same period.
Cheetham Hill and Crumpsall South sit next to the Salford areas of Broughton and Broughton Park, which have seen high numbers of cases throughout the pandemic.
It is the second week in a row that Crumpsall South has seen a double figure increase in new cases.
Other areas of new concern across Greater Manchester include Moss Side West, with 10 new cases, and Levenshulme North with 12.
Levenshulme North is adjacent to Levenshulme South, which saw 11 new cases last week.
Manchester has been close to being upgraded to a ‘red alert’ level over its infection rates for the last few weeks. The latest data shows the city has 42.7 cases per 100,000, with the minimum threshold to become a 'red alert' at 50 per 100,000.
Areas of Oldham, which has been one of the worst affected places in England, remain particularly badly hit, with 17 new cases this week in Chadderton North, 12 in Oldham Town North, 13 in Busk, 24 in Alexandra Park and a massive 30 in Werneth.
In spite of stricter local lockdown measures in the area, Oldham accounts for 96 of Greater Manchester’s new cases.
Alexandra Park and Chadderton have remained persistent problem areas for the authorities, with consistently some of the highest case rates in the region, and at one point in the country.
Greater Manchester borough's infection rates
Infection rates across the city-region vary from borough to borough.
Despite accounting for 96 of Greater Manchester’s new cases in the period from August 14 to 20 and still having a 'red alert' infection rate of 60.7 per 100,000 people as of August 21, the infection rate for Oldham has been going down over the last couple of weeks.
Manchester’s infection rate is staying steady and currently stands at 42.7. Any increase in its infection rate that took it over the 50 per 100,000 threshold would mean the borough officially moves into the ‘red alert’ category.
Rochdale comes after Manchester, with an infection rate of 37.8.
Bury’s rate is also remaining consistent at 33.0 for the moment but, for the last five weeks in a row, has seen an increase in new cases each week.
Salford has an infection rate that is dropping. Its overall rate is 27.0, but previously in the pandemic areas in Salford bordering Manchester saw particularly high case rates.
Tameside is steady with an infection rate of 23.4 per 100,000 people. The borough saw a doubling of its new cases in just seven days at the start of August, but since then things have levelled off.
Next comes Trafford, where the infection rate is dropping, at 18.1. Earlier in the outbreak, the borough had the fifth highest infection rate in the country.
Now, that has been brought back under control as previous areas of concern like Hale Barns are now seeing much fewer new cases.
Stockport’s rate is also falling, and currently stands at 13.3. The borough has had one of the lowest infection rates in Greater Manchester for the last few weeks.
Bolton has an infection rate of just 12.9 and it’s rate is going down. Last week, ending August 19, there were just 24 new cases across the whole borough – down by more than half from the previous week.
Finally, Wigan has the lowest rate of all 10 boroughs, with 10.9 people infected with COVID-19 per 100,000 population.
The area’s rate remains steady and the borough is set to be released from the local lockdown measures affecting the rest of Greater Manchester on Wednesday.
Overall, it means the infection rate is falling in half of the region’s boroughs.
The latest data shows Greater Manchester saw its lowest number of new cases in a week since July 28 this week.
Figures released yesterday (August 24) show there were 805 cases of coronavirus in Greater Manchester up until August 21. There is a slight delay in data reporting.
Yesterday there were 89 new cases of COVID-19 recorded in the region.
