Andy Burnham speaks out after Government U-turn on face masks in school

here“Leaders are talking about a form of local shielding - perhaps not the full national programme we saw earlier this year - but certainly a discussion is now underway about whether we can have a shielding programme in Greater Manchester that affords greater protection to the members of the community most at risk.”He added: “We believe as we go into the autumn and winter this is something that will be needed and is the right thing to do.

Andy Burnham has slammed health secretary Matt Hancock for the way the government has announced a string of new coronavirus restrictions affecting Greater Manchester.The region’s mayor says the approach has kept local leaders in the dark and led to ‘anxiety and confusion’ among residents.He said he fears ministers are in danger of ‘losing the public’ and is calling for a return to daily briefings led by expert scientists and medics.Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mr

in Bolton to spike, Andy Burnham has said.The mayor revealed he had heard reports of a ‘super-spreader’ in the town who had gone out drinking after returning from holiday.He was told that someone coming back from holiday and going out drinking “is linked to a large part of the problem”.In a Greater Manchester coronavirus press conference today, the mayor said it could be one person responsible or a small number of people causing pubs to be shut.He added there is a “real concern” about the extra

There has been a ‘significant’ rise in Covid hospital admissions here in the last week, Andy Burnham has warned, urging everyone in Greater Manchester to pay urgent attention to the increase.While still at low levels, the number of admissions in the week to yesterday was around twice that of the week before.The M.E.N.

in Bolton due to a “significant rise in cases” in the borough.

across Bolton is “nowhere near enough”, Andy Burnham has said.

Bolton casino was forced to shut hours after reopening following the government's U-turn over lockdown in the town.

Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) has struck a deal with operators to run around 300 additional bus journeys every weekday. Duplicate buses that will be used exclusively by school and college students will have their route numbers marked with an ‘S’ to show they are school services.

The mayor of Greater Manchester has spelled out how he believes tighter coronavirus measures should be lifted across the city-region.Andy Burnham has called for an end to ‘crude blanket restrictions’ that are becoming ‘less effective’ despite initially helping to stop rising infection rates.A ‘more sophisticated’ exit strategy which puts local leaders at the heart of decision-making has been proposed, with Mr Burnham arguing that they are better placed to know when to impose tougher restrictions

officially lifted by the government today.The Greater Manchester mayor said the region finds itself in “a completely unsustainable position” after restrictions were released in the two boroughs overnight.

when it emerged the latest figures show Trafford's infection rate has increased.Reacting to the row, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said more consultation with local authorities is needed.He told BBC Breakfast: "I think we will better negotiate what lies ahead of us in the autumn and winter if Government listens to local leaders - they know their communities."It wasn't just in Greater Manchester where they overruled us.

here"I've worried about things like people's mental health, we know people have died, people are grieving and people get a lot of support from loved ones and friends, not being able to see them has been really, really hard."Although Greater Manchester's leaders, including Mayor Andy Burnham, had asked for Stockport and Bolton to have restrictions lifted on Wednesday, the decision was not confirmed until Friday evening ahead of a bank holiday weekend.Asked about the timing of the announcement,

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said that Bolton has the backing of Greater Manchester's leaders.He said: "There's a very much changed position in Bolton and Stockport and consistent with what we said last week where Wigan had a very different position, we're obviously following that approach this week."There's a political consensus within those boroughs now to ask the government to remove the restriction on social gatherings in the home introduced at the back end of July."Mr Burnham will

hereThe infection rate across nine out of the ten boroughs is continuing to fall."I think we are beginning to see the numbers move in the right direction and that includes Oldham, which saw a noticeable fall in the number of cases this week, and we have begun to see falls in other Greater Manchester boroughs as well," Mr Burnham told the BBC."We had the restrictions introduced about three weeks ago and I would say we have begun to see these restrictions are now working, so fingers crossed we can

hereBut some institutions have already raised concerns about a lack of capacity, staffing, accommodation and facilities if numbers increase – especially at a time when universities are trying to be Covid-secure.Students who have now secured their first choice following the government’s U-turn may be asked to defer their place by a year if there is no space left on their preferred course.The government said students who have accepted an offer will be able to release themselves if they have