Dozens of Greater Manchester primary schools have closed over Covid-19 safety fears

direct to your inboxThe Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital is to open emergency Covid beds for adults in a sign of the unprecedented pressure facing Greater Manchester’s hospitals.Sir Richard Leese, the region’s health chief, said the situation in the system was now ‘critical’ as NHS bosses have scrambled to discharge as many people as possible ahead of a sustained peak over the coming three weeks.Crisis meetings have been held to determine the ability to scale up beds, as Salford Royal and

direct to your inboxThe NHS has sadly confirmed the deaths of 29 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for Covid-19.The region's hospital death toll now stands at 4,757.NHS bosses said on Friday a further 993 people who tested positive for the virus have died in hospitals across England.It brings the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 65,104.In the north west, a further 94 hospital deaths were reported, the NHS said on Friday.A

direct to your inboxPolice have declared a major incident due to concerns about the impact of Storm Christoph.An amber weather warning for rain has been issued as torrential downpours are set to hit the region.It's in force until Thursday lunchtime, with forecasters warning of potential flooding.A top police chief urged people to leave their home if they need to despite the stay at home message.Residents are being urged to follow their local authority's advice about evacuations.Assistant Chief

direct to your inboxA flood 'alert' has been put in force in Greater Manchester today after hours of heavy rainfall overnight.The alert warns of 'possible' flooding around the area of the middle River Mersey catchment area.It includes areas near Bramhall in Stockport, Sale, Altrincham and Urmston.The Environment Agency warned: "Flooding is possible - be prepared."And Transport for Greater Manchester said: "With heavy rain in Greater Manchester this morning, expect flooding in some areas.

direct to your inboxNerves are growing within the Greater Manchester system about whether the current stop-start rate of vaccine supply will be sufficient to hit government targets by mid-February.Some areas are understood to have received barely half as many doses this week as they have capacity to deliver, while across the board there is worry about the last-minute nature of their arrival from the national distribution system - meaning local health officials and GPs are struggling to plan and

here"If you run a business, please do ask your staff to work from home if they can and where this is not possible, make sure that you are following all the advice on making your premises covid secure.”In Heald Green East, 62 new cases have been recorded in the week to January 6 - 28 more than were recorded the previous week.In the seven days to December 23, there were 20 new cases, which itself represented a huge spike from the week earlier, where four new cases were reported.Currently, the

direct to your inboxA top cop at Greater Manchester Police says officers are 'really fed up' of having to deal with the same people who won't obey coronavirus laws. Assistant Chief Constable Nick Bailey has been leading GMP 's response to lockdown rules since the pandemic began.

Wigan by the deadly impact of Covid-19. Two other areas in Greater Manchester - Tameside and Rochdale - are also among the ten boroughs in the country with the highest death rates.

direct to your inboxHospitals across Greater Manchester have begun postponing cancer operations as fears grow that the region could run out of intensive care beds.Some cancer surgery has already been cancelled at the last minute due to a lack of critical care beds, while more broadly trusts are beginning the process of rescheduling cancer operations not deemed to be the most urgent.The move comes amid expectations of a ‘very scary’ surge in admissions from Monday, according to one senior doctor

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester Police responded to 1,500 reports of ‘stupid and selfish’ people breaking Covid-19 laws over the New Year period.More than 1,000 callouts involved officers breaking up house parties held inside residential homes, properties rented for the night and short-term lets.‘Hundreds’ of fines have been handed out to those attending illegal gatherings in the past week, including people who went to a rave on an industrial estate.Rising infection rates are also

direct to your inboxA Greater Manchester Police officer who repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl has been jailed.Farooq Ahmed, 37, walked into a police station with a confession note before Christmas.

Follow our dedicated live blog hereThe ones that are closed are providing places for key worker and vulnerable children, as they did during the first lockdown.And some that were due to reopen later this week are warning parents they'll be staying closed.If your child's school has closed, get in touch with us on our Manchester Family Facebook page here, let us know in the comments here, or email [email protected] are the schools that have closed by boroughMount Carmel RC, BlakleyOswald

direct to your inboxThe Army is being drafted into Greater Manchester from today to help carry out 'targeted' asymptomatic testing for coronavirus, the government has announced.The Ministry of Defence said 800 military personnel including soldiers would deploy to support community testing plans drawn up by Greater Manchester Combined Authority.The news comes as the latest Covid-19 vaccine - from Oxford AstraZeneca - was administered for the first time on Monday.The MOD said personnel from nine

direct to your inboxIn a matter of hours, schools will be reopening their doors to begin the spring term, but thousands of teachers, support staff and parents don't know whether they should be returning or not.Earlier this week, the education secretary Gavin Williamson backtracked on earlier decisions and said secondary schools will have an extra week's holiday before a staggered return.Some primary schools in London were told not to reopen but then Mr Williamson performed another U-turn after

direct to your inboxBosses at an Oldham primary school say “it is not safe” for pupils to return tomorrow and they will not be opening.The ‘majority’ of teaching staff at Holy Trinity C of E School, in Dobcross, are not expected to return to school on Monday morning (January 4) as advised by their union.They are said to be acting on advice from the National Education Union that “it is not safe to return to work if a school is in a Tier 4 area”.As such, Holy Trinity will be closed to all but

direct to your inboxParents have been left angry and frustrated after Boris Johnson insisted that primary schools were safe despite ongoing pressure to keep them closed.Primaries are due to reopen in Tier 4 areas except London tomorrow despite growing concerns about a new variant of coronavirus.Unions, teachers and scientists have urged the government to delay the reopening to curb mounting transmission rates.

direct to your inboxParents and children have been left in limbo ahead of the imminent reopening of primary schools and the risk posed by the new strain of COVID-19.It's understood that primaries in Greater Manchester will open as planned on Monday - despite action being taken to keep kids at home in other Tier 4 areas.It comes as the National Education Union (NEU), the UK's largest teaching union, told its members that it is unsafe for them to go back to work on Monday.The NEU is one of several

direct to your inboxDozens of chickens have been dumped across Greater Manchester after 'panic buyers' bought them to lay eggs. The RSPCA has warned that the birds are being dumped in huge numbers due to lockdown and fears of the return of bird flu.

direct to your inboxPrimary schools in London will remain closed following a government U-turn.It comes after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson announced 50 education authorities in the south of England would be closed to primary school pupils for the first two weeks of term.The list failed to encompass several school areas in London, where Covid-19 rates remain alarmingly high as the new strain continues to spread across the country.Latest scientific advice warns that the new strain variant

direct to your inboxThe streets were empty as Greater Manchester said goodbye to 2020 and ushered in a new year - but many were determined to keep alive at least one tradition.Our video from Werneth Low shows how many parts of Greater Manchester were ablaze with colour as people set off fireworks at midnight to celebrate the arrival of 2021.Around 200 socially distanced people gathered on the popular spot to watch the moment our region said goodbye to 2020 and ushered in the New Year.Car horns