New figures show there were 11 more coronavirus deaths recorded over the last two weeks in Bolton with experts stating the country is experiencing its worst flu season for a decade.

A total of 1,121 people had died in Bolton when the UK coronavirus dashboard was updated a week ago – up from 1,110 on December 21.

They were among 27,977 deaths recorded across the North West.

The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Bolton.

A total of 177,037 deaths were recorded throughout England by January 5 (Thursday) – up from 175,007 a fortnight ago.

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Covid-19 infections in the UK have jumped to their highest level since the summer, with nearly three million people likely to have had the virus at Christmas.

The figures come as the country is experiencing its worst flu season for a decade and ambulance handover delays at hospitals are at a record high.

Around one in 20 people in England are likely to have had Covid-19 over the festive period and parents are now being reminded that winter illnesses continue to circulate at high levels as pupils and students return to school following the Christmas break.

Latest data from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) also continues to show scarlet fever and group A strep (GAS) infections remain high.

Read more: NHS 111 North West inundated with calls linked to Strep A

So far this season, from 19 September to 1 January, there have been 35,616 notifications of scarlet fever.

This compares to a total of 4,192 at the same point in the year during the last comparably high season in 2017 to 2018 – although cases in that season started to rise at a different point.

In 2017 to 2018 there were 30,768 scarlet fever notifications overall across the year.

So far this season there have been 151 deaths across all age groups in England. This figure includes 29 children under 18 in England.

Read more: Strep A: Primary school children could be given antibiotics en masse

Dr Obaghe Edeghere, UKHSA incident director, said: “As children return to school, scarlet fever and ‘strep throat’ continue to circulate at high levels and so it is important that we all wash our hands regularly and thoroughly and catch coughs and sneezes in a tissue.

“This will help stop germs spreading between children and to other vulnerable groups and will help prevent the spread of other winter illnesses that are currently circulating at high levels, including flu and COVID-19.

“It’s not too late to take up the free flu and COVID-19 vaccines if you’re eligible – we know that group A strep infections can be more serious when combined with another infection like flu.”