Three quarters of neighbourhoods across Stockport recorded no more than two cases of coronavirus over the most recent seven-day reporting period.
New Public Health England (PHE) figures for the week ending August 15 will come as hugely encouraging news to local leaders, after a rise in infections among young adults created a spike in late July and early August.
PHE produces a weekly heat map showing infection rates across the country- with the darker areas being those with the highest number of cases.
It splits boroughs into ‘middle super output areas’ (MSOAs) - which have an average population of 7,200 people.
However areas which have two or fewer cases are not included in the PHE data map - meaning there were potentially no new cases in 31 of Stockport’s 40 MSOAs during that week.
Just nine areas saw three or more cases - the highest being Heald Green East, which had six, followed by Adswood which had five.
Heaton Mersey and Woodsmoor and Mile End both recorded four positive cases, while there were three in Central Reddish, Heaton Chapel and Shaw Road, Norris Bank, Central Stockport Portwood and Shaw Heath, and Heaviley.
However, even the areas which saw the highest rates are well below some of Greater Manchester’s most troubled areas. Parts of Oldham, for example, recorded more than 30 cases over the same period.
Stockport now has the lowest infection rate (19.1 cases per 100,000 people) in Greater Manchester, bar Wigan. It is rated as ‘green alert' having strayed into ‘amber' during late July and early August.
After a significant uptick in late July - which saw rates double, then nearly double again - local leaders urged residents to 'remember the three S’s' : No more than Six people (outdoors in public places), Socially distance and Sanitise to #StopTheSpread'.
The council also gave infection control support to businesses and the care and hospitality sectors, while striving to ‘act quickly’ when an outbreak was identified.
It also targeted its messaging to groups which had seen a rise in positive tests - particularly teenagers and adults under 40.
A full list of what Stockport residents can and cannot do and answers to frequently asked questions can be found at the GOV.UK website
The Public Health England heat map can be found here.
