More than 1,000 people tested positive for coronavirus in Greater Manchester in a week.
There were 1,046 positive tests across the 10 boroughs in the week ending August 11, the latest Public Health England figures have shown.
It is the highest number of infections since May 25.
More than a quarter of those positive test results were in Oldham, now the town with the highest COVID-19 infection rate in England.
The Government confirmed today (Friday) that restrictions on social distancing would continue in Greater Manchester.
Rules including a ban on people of different households mixing in gardens or homes were announced two weeks ago to tackle an increase in Covid cases in the North West, West Yorkshire, East Lancashire and Leicester.
The latest data from PHE shows that Oldham's rate is now higher than it was in the first wave of the pandemic.
The infection rate reached 112.2 in the town for the week ending August 11 with a total of 266 cases recorded.
Meanwhile, the infection rate has grown again in Manchester again after levelling off last week.
There were 225 positive tests across the city in the week ending August 11. The infection rate has now reached over 40.
There are also further signs of the virus spreading in Rochdale, which is now returning to the levels seen in the end of July.
The infection rate is just under 45.
If it reaches 50 the town will be placed on a 'red alert' on the government watch list.
The only other area to see positive tests grow week on week is Stockport.
In five other boroughs there is only a small change compared with the week ending August.
In Bury there has been a marked downturn with 41 cases in the week ending August 11, compared with 57 in the previous week.
Wigan remains stable with the lowest infection rate of any Greater Manchester borough.
The PHE figures, for the seven days to August 7, are based on tests carried out in laboratories (pillar one of the Government’s testing programme) and in the wider community (pillar two).
It is this data which the government uses to determine whether to put a region into local lockdown - and the data would also be used to decide if local restrictions should be lifted
The rate is expressed as the number of new cases per 100,000 people.
