Care home outbreaks behind recent spike in coronavirus cases in Bury

direct to your inboxSome children are set to have a delayed return to school as cases of coronavirus continue to rise.Most primary schools will re-open on Monday, January 4, but secondary pupils across Greater Manchester will not immediately return.The Government has said some primary schools in Tier 4 areas with the highest infection rates will not re-open fully, but these areas have not yet been confirmed.Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said it would apply only to a 'small number' of

direct to your inboxDavid Oliver is an experienced NHS Consultant Physician and medical writer from Manchester.He has played a variety of national medical leadership and policy roles and has a weekly column in the British Medical Journal.He is currently managing two Covid wards at a hospital in the south of England.Here he explains the detrimental impact of conspiracy theories and untruths around Covid-19 on NHS staff.What do care home have to do to get a break in England right now?At last they

direct to your inboxRochdale's club doctor has called on the football season to be halted as cases of coronavirus rise.Dr Wes Tensel spoke out as a number of football clubs including Rochdale and Manchester City have had matches called off after positive cases were revealed.Dr Tensel, who also works as a GP, said he believes the season should be postponed, as more clubs are hit by outbreaks.“This is my opinion as a doctor," he told the PA news agency."Some people will disagree, some won’t, this

direct to your inboxThe coronavirus pandemic has exposed the crisis in the "broken" social care system – and it would be "immoral" not to fix it, Andy Burnham has warned.The mayor of Greater Manchester said the only way to cope with an ageing population would be to more closely integrate social care with the NHS.

Sign up to the MySalford newsletter and don't miss a thing happening in and around the cityA 68-year-old woman is in hospital with serious burns to her back and legs following a fire at a residential care home.Firefighters, police and paramedics were called to Kenyon Lodge, off Manchester Road West in Little Hulton, just after 10am this morning.Residents reported seeing two fire engines as well as a number of police cars outside the home, with crime scene investigators arriving

direct to your inboxThis is the heartwarming moment Jason Manford turned up outside a care home in Greater Manchester to sing Christmas songs to residents.The Salford-born comedian sang a series of Christmas classics from outside the window of the home, thought to be in south Manchester.He posted the video on Facebook, saying he'd wanted to surprise his friend's dad at the care home.Residents can be seen inside the home cheering, dancing along from their chairs, and singing along.Jason gave them

Bury with the lowest number of cases in the borough.

straight to your inboxManchester City have given a Christmas present to every primary school kid in East Manchester and every child in in care across the whole city.Staff, players and coaches have paid for, wrapped and delivered more than 5,500 gifts.And with the coronavirus pandemic meaning the traditional Christmas visits to hospitals are off the cards, stars including Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne have been video calling patients on children's wards at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital,

direct to your inboxCare home bosses say as many as '60 per cent' of their staff have warned they will refuse the Covid vaccine when it is rolled out.Managers in care homes in Greater Manchester have been canvassing their colleagues ahead of the Pfizer vaccine being administered.Both staff and residents are among the first in the queue on the Government roll-out agenda, which was subject to reports of delays on Tuesday.And these plans could hit further stumbling blocks as care home bosses have

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester leaders have urged the government to base their review of tiering arrangements on what is happening in the north of England instead of the south.Mayor Andy Burnham remains confident that there is a case for all ten boroughs to come out of Tier 3 at once with Covid-19 infection rates falling by 20 per cent since December 2.However he admitted ahead of the government’s announcement tomorrow that it was ‘more borderline’ in boroughs where rates remain above

Salford girl fighting cancer has gone viral after appealing for people to send her thumbs-up selfies on Twitter.  Emily Martin was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in June and has been in Manchester Children’s Hospital ever since. Alarm bells first started to ring when the 11-year-old, from Swinton, began fainting and feeling pain in her ankles. Her parents Andy and Dawn took Emily to Salford Royal Hospital where blood tests showed abnormalities. It wasn’t long after they received

direct to your inboxResidents of a Manchester care home were put ‘at risk of avoidable harm’ by staff during a Covid-19 outbreak, a report has found.Three workers at The Royal Elms Care in Newton Heath were found wearing their face masks under their nose during a visit by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in October.Inspectors said the spread of infection was increased by personal protective equipment (PPE) being left out in areas frequently touched by staff and people living in the

Manchester Evening News : "I had to contact the coroners' office to get them to arrange for his things to be sent. "They finally sent his belongings and many items were missing.

straight to your inbox every day for freeMarcus Rashford has hinted he wishes to stay at Manchester United for his whole career. The forward has been one of United's best performers so far this season, having become a key part of the first-team almost immediately after his 2016 debut.

direct to your inboxA teenage care leaver was unable to get a job and had his life ‘put on hold’ after Manchester council failed to secure a passport for him.The council’s errors feature in a damning Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman report detailing how children had been ‘let down’ by those charged with looking after them.Manchester council has since paid the 18-year-old, known as Marcus, £1,600 for ‘avoidable distress’ after he missed out on three job opportunities and feared for his

direct to your inboxVisitors to care homes in Greater Manchester will be given rapid Covid-19 tests before seeing their loved ones - but only if they have already tested negative for the virus after taking a standard test.Care homes had been warned against relying solely on lateral flow tests after concerns were raised around their accuracy and there being a lack of guidance for staff on how to use them.Lateral flow tests detect three quarters of positive cases within 30 minutes if carried out