BOLTON’S coronavirus infection rate has fallen substantially, figures have shown – but the council’s leader has warned the borough’s hospital is still under “huge pressures”.

Data released by Public Health England showed there were 1,277 new covid-19 cases in the borough in the seven days up to November 13.

This means that the rate per 100,000 people in Bolton who had the virus was 444.1.

That statistic is down from the previous seven days when there were a total of 1,564 cases and the rate was 543.0.

And the figures showed that the town had the 35th highest rate in the country, a table that it has previously topped.

Council leader, Cllr David Greenhalgh, says he is “cautiously optimistic” about the fall in the rate.

But he warned residents must carry on following the restrictions for the drop in cases to continue.

And he said that hospitals are struggling with the demands placed upon them following an upturn in coronavirus infections across the country.

Figures released this week found that almost a quarter of patients being treated at Royal Bolton Hospital were being treated for the virus.

And data revealed that Bolton has one of the highest proportion of covid-19 patients across the country, with 146 coronavirus patients on site on November 10.

Cllr Greenhalgh said: “It’s great news to see the rates are dropping, and a massive thank you to all those following the guidance, but there is still a long way to go.

“We can be cautiously optimistic but our hospitals are still under huge pressures.

“We still need to remain focussed on following the guidelines and reducing these rates much more, which will allow us to have more options following this period of lockdown, and hopefully return us to the degree of normality we all crave.”

Despite there being a feeling of hope in Bolton, the majority of areas in England (232 out of 315) have seen a rise in case rates.

Hull had the highest rate with 1,976 new cases recorded in the seven days to November 13 – the equivalent of 760.6 cases per 100,000 people.

This is up slightly up on the 731.8 cases per 100,000 in the seven days to November 6.

Hartlepool had the second highest rate, up sharply from 407.8 to 596.8, with 559 new cases.

Swale was in third place, where the rate has risen from 284.5 to 589.7, with 885 new cases.

The figures are calculated by the PA news agency and is based on Public Health England data published on November 17 on the Government’s coronavirus dashboard.

The statistics are based on tests carried out in laboratories and in the wider community.