ANOTHER 11 residents have tested positive for covid-19 in Bolton.

The latest figures from the government show that 2,249 cases have now been confirmed in the borough since the start of the pandemic.

Between 9am on Friday, August 21, and 9am today 57 new cases of the virus have been recorded – a rate of 20.0 per 100,000 people.

In the week before, from Friday August 14 to Thursday August 20, 73 new virus cases were confirmed, an infection rate of 25.6.

The new cases come as the government is set to decide whether lockdown restrictions affecting Greater Manchester can be lifted in Bolton.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock and England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty will chair a meeting of the Joint Biosecurity Centre to determine whether the recommendation to lift restrictions from Bolton and Stockport can be approved.

An announcement is expected sometime tomorrow.

It comes after the borough's hospital confirmed its first coronavirus-related death in over two weeks.

One new patient death at the Royal Bolton Hospital was linked to coronavirus, with the patient passing away last Saturday, August 22. The death was added to official statistics yesterday.

A total of 231 people have now died at the borough's hospital after contracting coronavirus.