The incredible Greater Manchester theatres at risk of being lost forever

direct to your inboxThe number of coronavirus cases continues to fall in Greater Manchester - although more slowly than the national average.The latest data shows the infection rate in our region has fallen to 185.5 cases per 100,000 people.That represents a significant drop since rates climbed as high as 461.5 in January.But the rate in Greater Manchester is decreasing more slowly week by week when compared with England as a whole.It is down 8 per cent for the week ending February 17 while the

direct to your inboxCoronavirus has brought heartache to thousands of families across Greater Manchester.More than 5,200 people have died in our region's hospitals alone. And tragically, this number is continuing to rise.

Land Registry.

direct to your inboxTameside is one of only 14 places in England showing a week-on-week rise in coronavirus cases.The borough recorded 462 cases in the week ending February 15 - that’s 54 more than in the previous week.It’s the biggest increase in case numbers in the past week out of anywhere in the country although the spike in its overall rate, which has gone up by 10 percent, is not the biggest national percentage rise.Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Bury had 403 cases in this seven-day

direct to your inboxResidents in Greater Manchester have faced one bout of cold weather after the next since the start of the year.Last week, conditions were bitterly cold, with temperatures dropping below zero.And before then, the Met Office had to issue a number of severe weather warnings for snow and ice covering the region.With more time spent at home than ever during the national lockdown, many households have had to have their heating on for long periods each day.However, you may be able

direct to your inboxThe NHS has confirmed the deaths of 18 more patients in hospitals in Greater Manchester who had tested positive for coronavirus.Nationally, a further 309 hospital deaths were reported on Thursday.Of those, 42 were in hospitals in the north west region.Six further deaths have been recorded at Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, with five more at Stockport NHS Foundation Trust.Three further deaths were recorded at Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and at Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh

direct to your inboxLatest figures show Bury is one of just 12 places in England where coronavirus infection rates have gone up.Rates are continuing to fall in nine of Greater Manchester's 10 boroughs.But in Bury, figures published by Public Health England on Monday showed infection rates to be up slightly.

praised families and staff at Corpus Christi RC Primary in Chadderton, Oldham, for pulling together amid the pandemic, we asked parents to tell us who they wanted to thank - and we were inundated with suggestions. More than 200 parents replied to posts on our Manchester Family Facebook page naming schools and teachers who have made this unprecedented time easier for pupils.

hereIn Salford, which has the second highest infection rate in the conurbation, at 261.6, cases fell by seven per cent compared to the week before.The latest infection rate figures come as a further 34 more people died in Greater Manchester's Hospitals after testing positive for Coronavirus.It brings the region's hospital death toll to 5,255.NHS England announced a further 664 deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities in NHS hospitals in England to 77,253.

direct to your inboxCoronavirus infection rates continue to fall across most of the region - but one borough has seen a slight rise in cases.There were 799 new cases in Bolton in the week to February 4, a 1% rise on the previous seven days.Every other borough saw a drop in cases, the latest Public Health England figures show.But Oldham's infection rate, while continuing to fall, is now above the national average of 211.8 cases per 100,000 people.Salford saw the smallest drop in cases, down 1% to

direct to your inboxIt was a tragic twist of fate.Artist George Mayer-Marton had carefully packed his possessions and life's work to save them from the Nazis by emigrating to England.The Hungarian had made his reputation and home in Vienna - but his Jewish heritage and artistic brilliance made him vulnerable.The German invasion of Austria in March 1938 was the trigger for him to leave that year.

Trafford was home to six of the most expensive homes sold in the region last year – the priciest being a £4.6m detached property.  At the other end of the scale, many of the cheapest homes in Greater Manchester were sold in Oldham, Bolton, Rochdale and Wigan last year.The cheapest sold in Farnworth, Bolton for £24,838 in July. Last year, the threshold for Stamp Duty in England was raised to £500,000, with equivalent taxes in Wales and Scotland raised to a threshold of £250,000. The tax holiday

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester’s hospitals have almost run out of intensive care beds at points over the last couple of weeks, the region’s health lead has revealed, as the system has hit its peak of the third wave.Sir Richard Leese said that at times, critical care occupancy had come ‘very close to the absolute number of beds we’ve currently got available’.In the last week there has been a dip in admissions, however, and the third wave is now believed to have peaked within the NHS here

direct to your inboxTens of thousands of the lowest paid people in Greater Manchester have been rejected after applying for financial support to self-isolate due to Covid-19.So far 22,598 applications for support under the Test and Trace Support Payment scheme have been received by Greater Manchester’s 10 councils.In total 13,390 - or 59% - of those applications have been rejected.Reasons for refusal varied and included no loss of income for self-employed people who were already receiving

direct to your inboxFrom the drug-fuelled speeding BMW driver who killed a teenage girl as she walked to school - before trying to blame her after driving off - to the fraudster jailed for stealing £136,000 from a solicitor's firm using an elderly dementia sufferer's bank account.These are some of the criminals locked up in Greater Manchester in January.The region's courts have given out hefty prison sentences for all manner of crimes last month with M.E.N.

Bolton chef decided to cook up some affordable 'school dinners' and share his recipes, following the controversy about 'woefully inadequate' food parcels in parts of Greater Manchester. Gareth Mason, who recently went viral for his 'three-tier' fish, chips and mushy peas pie, decided to visit Aldi and see how many ingredients he could buy for £20.

Wigan is now emerging as a property hotspot.

Sign up to the MySalford newsletter and don't miss a thing happening in and around the cityClifton currently has the lowest infection rate in Greater Manchester.Only five Covid cases were confirmed there over the week ending January 16.The Salford neighbourhood is one of only two in all of Greater Manchester with an infection rate under 100 cases per 100,000 people in the seven-day period.The latest government figures reveal that the infection rate in Clifton was 84.3 cases per 100,000 people

direct to your inboxInfection rates are continuing to fall across every Greater Manchester borough.Each of the region’s ten boroughs are below England's average of 452.5 per 100,000 people in the week ending January 18.Only the city of Manchester has a rate above 400 and Oldham - which once had the highest rates in the country - is now sitting at 282.6 cases per 100,000 people for the same time period.Here in Greater Manchester, the borough of Trafford had the biggest drop in cases in the seven

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