Why Greater Manchester could now be the canary down the Covid mine

Manchester Evening News only able to confirm cases after being alerted by parents - it's likely there are many more. Yesterday we revealed how the number of schools reporting confirmed Covid cases since children returned in September had reached 314.

reached 294.

close for a week after a 'significant number' of staff tested positive for Covid, and Loreto High in Chorlton, where Year 7s are isolating after a confirmed case.

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“We have taken this decision to protect our pupils and staff, whose safety is always our highest priority."Some schools which already had a number of children isolating have sent further groups home, including Fairfield High School for Girls in Droylsden where there's been another confirmed case in Year 10 and at Corpus Christi RC Primary in Oldham, where the Nursery and Reception bubble is now also isolating.Elton High in Bury has also had another confirmed case, which has affected a small

Stockport and Wigan, bringing the boroughs in line with the rest of Greater Manchester, except Bolton where extra measures apply.

hereThis was the equivalent of around 22 per cent of the nearly 6.1 million FTE sickness days lost during the period across all staff groups in the NHS in England.The data showed that during the peak of the outbreak in April there were 690,569 FTE days lost due to Covid-19 - 30.6 per cent of the nearly 2.3 million absences recorded that month.At Stockport NHS Trust, more than a quarter (27.6 per cent) of sick days lost were Covid-19-related, the highest proportion locally.Both Stockport NHS

18 positive tests among staff and students at Philips High School in Prestwich - and these have definitely had an impact on the overall spike, Mrs Jones said.

one more coronavirus death has been recorded at Greater Manchester’s hospitals.

Local leaders are seeking tougher powers to clamp down on businesses that flout Covid rules.Infection rates in Greater Manchester remain stubbornly high, with all ten boroughs currently on ‘red alert’.Bolton has the most cases per 100,000 people in the country while Tameside and Oldham are also among the ten worst hit areas, according to the most recent ‘surveillance report’.Rochdale’s director of public health, Andrea Fallon, has warned it is ‘entirely possible’ there could be a return to the

Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise sharply across most of Greater Manchester with all ten boroughs now at the highest level of alert for the first time.Stockport and Trafford have now recorded an infection rate of more than 50 cases per 100,000 people in the local population - it's the first time the two boroughs have reached that milestone since the height of the pandemic in April.Manchester has also seen a significant rise in cases, registering 100 positive tests for three days in a

the government’s latest extra Covid-19 restrictions, announced this morning, will have caused brows to furrow among those looking at the wider northern map.

full closure of a second primary school.St Luke's Primary in Heywood had already sent home pupils in Years 2, 3 and 6, but now it's been forced to shut to all year groups amid 'staffing issues'.Other primary schools have been sending home bubbles after confirmed cases, including Broadoak Primary in Swinton, where there's been a positive case, and Charlestown Primary, in Blackley, where Year 5 are isolating.Some schools which already had a number of children at home have had to tell more to stay

we reported how Horton Mill Primary School, in Glodwick, Oldham, had closed to all pupils after positive cases involving pupils and staff in several year groups. Elsewhere, The Duke of Norfolk CE Primary in Glossop, Derbyshire, has also shut following two positive cases including a member of the catering team who'd had widespread contact with the rest of the school.

Greater Manchester could escape further Covid-19 restrictions for the time being, the M.E.N.

Salford, where 6.4pc of tests came back positive.In comparison, just 3.4pc of tests were positive in neighbouring Wigan.The data, which was released by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, also shows that the number of positive tests in Bolton is rising far quicker than the number of tests being taken.Last week, the number of tests carried out in Bolton was up 14pc compared with four weeks earlier, in the week ending August 15.But over the same period, the number of positive tests has gone

that the number of hospital admissions is 'creeping up'.Giving an update to councillors, Steve Taylor, managing director of Bury & Rochdale Care Organisation, said: “On Monday in intensive care there was one patient at Bury, four in Oldham and two in North Manchester.“In general beds there are four Covid patients in Bury, 12 in Oldham, 11 in North Manchester and nine in our infectious disease department."Meanwhile in Bolton, the infection rate is now above 200 cases per 100,000 people.

Manchester Evening News that if there is a positive case at their child's school, they 'have a right to know'. Among the cases confirmed today is the closure of an entire primary school in Oldham, the first confirmed shutdown in Greater Manchester.

struggling to access tests, it's causing even further disruption and delay. At some high schools hundreds of pupils are being affected as whole year bubbles are sent home following a positive test.Oasis Academy Oldham has confirmed that students in Year 10 and 11 are self-isolating for the next fortnight and teachers will be supporting their learning at home.

Manchester Evening News to criticise those schools that are not sharing the information across the year groups, saying they should be able to make informed choices.The parent of a pupil at Co-op Academy North Manchester, where one child is isolating after testing positive, said: "My annoyance is that the school have not officially confirmed through email or letter to the parents, so many still don't know and have had the choice to make decisions taken away."For me, transparency is extremely