Coronavirus infection rate in Bolton continues to rise

Only two boroughs of Greater Manchester have seen their number of cases increase in the last seven days ­— Tameside and Bolton ­— with the rest of the city-region seeing a fall.

Bolton is still recording the lowest infection rate in Greater Manchester.

• Covid deaths at Bolton Hospital pass 700 for whole pandemic

In the seven days to August 20, Bolton recorded 646 new positive cases of Covid-19, equalling an infection rate of 224.1 new cases per 100,000 residents.

This is an increase from the previous seven days, to August 13, where the town recorded an infection rate of 215.8.

Tameside is the only other borough to have seen a rise in cases, having recorded an infection rate of 375.6 per 100,000 residents, giving them the highest rate of cases in the region.

All eight other boroughs have seen a fall in cases in the latest round of figures.

Bolton was the first borough to see a spike in cases due to the spread of the Delta variant in May.

Surge testing and vaccination was brought in to bring this under control with the town's infection rate dropping rapidly after this.

This had continued to fall for a long time, until this latest rise in cases, until beginning to rise again during this month.

Greater Manchester infection rates

Here is the list in full. It reads, from left to right: name of local authority; rate of new cases in the seven days to August 20; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 20; rate of new cases in the seven days to August 13; number (in brackets) of new cases recorded in the seven days to August 13.

Tameside, 375.6, (853), 315.3, (716)

Salford, 346.8, (911), 356.7, (937)

Trafford, 339.3, (806), 335.5, (797)

Stockport, 327.0, (962), 331.1, (974)

Manchester, 323.0, (1795), 342.6, (1904)

Oldham, 303.0, (720), 332.9, (791)

Wigan, 263.1, (870), 270.9, (896)

Bury, 262.2, (500), 297.8, (568)

Rochdale, 246.4, (551), 279.9, (626)

Bolton, 224.1, (646), 215.8, (622)