Greater Manchester care homes will require visitors to take separate Covid tests before seeing their loved ones

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 inboxFour more people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirusIt brings the total number of Covid-19 related hospital deaths in the region to 4,121.Three deaths were reported by Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, while one was reported by Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.No other Greater Manchester hospital recorded any Covid linked deaths today, Sunday, December 27.Every day the NHS in England gives an update on

Bury is on the rise again - with the borough now having the highest infection rate in Greater Manchester.

direct to your inboxTwo more people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.It brings the total number of Covid-19 related hospital deaths in the region to 4,118.The two deaths were reported by Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.No other Greater Manchester hospital recorded any Covid linked deaths today, Saturday, December 26.Every day the NHS in England gives an update on Covid-19 related fatalities at hospital trusts across the country.These are cases

direct to your inboxIt's been another busy couple of weeks in the region's courts in the lead up to Christmas.People have been locked up for all manner of  criminal offences  with M.E.N. reporters there to cover the most serious.There was the vicious knifeman who has left three people permanently disfigured and traumatised.Then there was the troubled baker told investors she had 'turned her life around'.

direct to your inboxTwo men from Greater Manchester who won £20,000 on the hit BBC show Race Across the World have donated their prize money to charity.Emon Choudhury, 36, from Stockport, beat four other teams to win the race alongside his nephew Jamiul Choudhury, 25, from Oldham.The pair beat the odds to complete an epic 54-day journey from Mexico City to the south of Argentina for the second series of the BBC2 show.On their travels, the men were visibly moved by the number of homeless children

direct to your inboxThe new highly transmissible strain of Covid-19 is not thought to have reached Greater Manchester yet, say the region's health leaders. A variant of the virus, which is said to be behind huge spikes in the south of England, is believed to have already reached parts of Cumbria.

direct to your inboxHospital bosses in Greater Manchester are meeting today (December 21) for a rapid review of testing, site access and visiting rules in light of a new variant of coronavirus in the UK.Northern Care Alliance (NCA) - the NHS group which runs hospitals and other health care services in Salford, Bury, Oldham and Rochdale - will today decide whether its infection prevention control measures must be strengthened.It comes after Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that the new

direct to your inboxInfection rates have increased in four of Greater Manchester's boroughs, yet all ten areas still have lower rates than the national average.Rochdale, Oldham, Salford and Trafford all recorded an increase in cases in the seven says leading up to December 14, the latest Government figures show.The infection rate is expressed per 100,000 people and is updated each day by Public Health England (PHE).The average rate for England continues to rise with a rate of 239.1 per 100,000,

direct to your inboxAll ten boroughs of Greater Manchester are now registering a lower coronavirus infection rate than the national average - although rates are increasing in some boroughs.The latest NHS data released today (Thursday) revealed 218.8 positive tests for every 100,000 people during the week to December 13 across England, an increase of 39 per cent compared to the previous week.Much of that spike is associated with a significant increase in cases in London, which registered 358.7

direct to your inboxAnother 15 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in Greater Manchester’s hospitals.This brings the region’s hospital death toll to 3,982, according to the latest NHS figures.NHS England gives an update on virus-related fatalities at hospital trusts in England each day.These are cases where a patient has tested positive within 28 days of their death or where Covid-19 is mentioned on their death certificate.Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust recorded the highest

direct to your inboxTameside now has the most places with hardly any cases of Covid-19 in Greater Manchester.The borough’s council boss says the explanation is simple – everyone has ‘played their part’.The latest hyper-local neighbourhood data shows that there are five areas of the borough which saw two or fewer cases in the last week.Ashton North, Audenshaw, Hurst Cross, Denton East and Dukinfield West all saw either two, one or no new infections in the seven days to December 11 according to

direct to your inboxCoronavirus has brought heartache to thousands of families across Greater Manchester.More than 3,800 people have died in our region's hospitals alone. And tragically, this number is continuing to rise.Behind the Covid-19 death statistics that we publish each day are human beings who all had stories to tell.

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester now has a lower coronavirus infection rate than the average figure for England, the latest data shows.It's the first time the region-wide figure has dipped below the national average since May 1.The infection rate is expressed per 100, 000 people.The latest Public Health England (PHE) figures show the rate for the week ending December 8 was 151.3 per 100,000 people in Greater Manchester.It is below the average rate for England which currently stands at

direct to your inboxTier 3 areas such as Greater Manchester will get more community testing programmes to try and reduce the spread of coronavirus, the government has said.Our region will be one of the areas to receive more than 1.6 million rapid turnaround lateral flow tests, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said.He says it is hoped that these quick turnaround tests will allow areas in tier three to relax lockdown restrictions.But concerns have been raised over the accuracy of such tests.It

direct to your inboxTwenty-six more people have died from coronavirus in Greater Manchester's hospitals.The region's hospital death toll has risen to 3,900, the latest NHS figures show.Nine more Covid-related deaths were recorded by Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust in its 24 hour data.The trust runs the Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI), Wythenshawe Hospital, the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital and Saint Mary's hospital.Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed five new deaths.

direct to your inboxEighteen more people have died from coronavirus in Greater Manchester's hospitals.The region's hospital death toll has now risen to 3,787, the latest NHS figures show.Thirteen new deaths were recorded at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, the organisation in charge of the Manchester Royal Infirmary, Wythenshawe Hospital, Saint Mary's and the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust confirmed four new deaths.

direct to your inboxAnother three people have died in Greater Manchester's hospitals after testing positive for coronavirus.It takes the death toll from the virus in the Greater Manchester's hospitals to 3,769. Each day the NHS gives an update on coronavirus related fatalities at hospital trusts in England.

direct to your inboxThe UK property market enjoyed a mini boom when it reopened following the first national lockdown.House prices increased by 2.4 per cent in July, compared to the period before lockdown, according to Rightmove.But, if you're thinking this surge will mean it's nigh-on impossible to purchase a property at the moment, then don't lose all hope.There are at least a dozen houses in our area, advertised on Rightmove at the moment, that come in at £50,000 and even less.The slashed

SAVE "is dismayed at the state of these fine buildings which could be reinstated as flats or spectacular private homes and urges the council to work with the owner to try and find a solution before it is too late." In the days when journalists could speak without fuss, and a municipal meltdown, directly to town hall officials in Salford, I would regularly meet David Johnston, the director of education and leisure.He eventually crossed the river to do the same job for Manchester.But before he