'Unfortunately we already have an unhealthy population': Greater Manchester's leaders react to Tier 3 decision

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.

infection rates could be doubling week-on-week within a matter of days if the rise continues.

direct to your inboxEngland has been put into a national lockdown from today as millions wake up to tough new restrictions. Everybody in England has been told to stay at home and only leave the house for a number of select reasons, including shopping for essentials and medical appointments.

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 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

direct to your inboxIt has been a year like no other.However Great Mancunians have still made headlines across the world, for all sorts of reasons.Here we look at those who have put the region on the map in 2020, a year we will never forget.2020 has undoubtedly belonged to Manchester United and England star Marcus Rashford.However it is his incredible work off the pitch which has made the headlines, even more than his impressive goal-scoring feats on it.The Withington-born and Wythenshawe raised

direct to your inbox"It's absolutely gut-wrenching."Hair salon owner Jane Nixon describes how she felt as Matt Hancock announced that Greater Manchester would be moving into Tier 4.And it's a feeling thousands of business owners across the region will be familiar with.A change in restrictions, businesses finally being allowed to open then being forced to shut again just a few weeks later.

direct to your inboxA massive 35,000 doses of the coronavirus vaccine have already been distributed across Greater Manchester – and more are set to follow.Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham gave a press conference this morning (Thursday) and announced the plan for the region’s vaccine distribution.He said 12,000 of the vaccines already provided were given at hospital hubs and 23,000 via the region’s primary care network.Mr Burnham said 25 per cent of Greater Manchester’s new coronavirus cases

direct to your inboxDoctors and paramedics say they are bracing themselves for a new tide of Covid patients to hit Greater Manchester's hospitals within weeks. Speaking as plans for the region's move to Tier 4 were announced and the return to school for secondary pupils was delayed, Dr Carole Gavin, a consultant in Greater Manchester, said concerns were growing as hospitals in the south battle to find beds as infection rates - largely found to be caused by the new mutant strain - rise.

direct to your inboxA Greater Manchester Police chief has urged people to stay at home in Tier 4 tomorrow night instead of celebrating New Year's Eve as they normally would. Under Tier 4 coronavirus restrictions, people are required by law to remain at home unless they need to leave their home for essential reasons.

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What do you think? Have your say in our comments below "I think the general thought is with Covid, yes, we've got some things wrong."But most people get that with a global pandemic that's constantly evolving, you're going to make mistakes."There is a lot of sympathy out there, but we were already in a very polarised atmosphere previously and unfortunately, it's become even more polarised."Every mistake is now a political choice as opposed to something you've realised in hindsight just wasn't

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 inboxLeaders from across Greater Manchester have shared their damning assessment of Greater Manchester Police as Chief Constable Ian Hopkins announced he is quitting the force. The police chief announced he was standing down today after his force was placed in special measures due to concerns over its failure to record more than 80,000 crimes in the space of a year.

direct to your inboxThe mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has slammed the government’s decision to keep the region under the toughest coronavirus restrictions.Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester this afternoon, he said: “The average for all of Greater Manchester is lower than Liverpool and London when they went into tier 2.“I don’t think they’ve got the balance right at all here, so I understand the frustration, but let’s not take it out on the NHS.“We’ve got to follow those rules and it

direct to your inboxGreater Manchester and Lancashire are staying in Tier 3 restrictions after a review of Covid rules across England.Matt Hancock announced in the House of Commons on Thursday morning that Bristol and North Somerset were coming out of Tier 3 into Tier 2 - but that every other part of England currently in Tier 3 was staying there.  He also announced a list of areas that would be moved up into Tier 3 including Surrey, Berkshire and Peterborough.

direct to your inbox Nine Greater Manchester boroughs now have coronavirus infection rates that are lower than the average for England - but numbers are beginning to creep up in some areas.

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