Covid: Greater Manchester and Lancashire to get extra help
- Published
Greater Manchester and parts of Lancashire will receive extra help to boost vaccinations and testing.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a "strengthened package of support" will be provided to tackle a rise in the Delta variant of Covid.
It will include military support and supervised in-school testing in the areas hardest hit by the variant.
People have also been advised to minimise travel in and out of the area and avoid meeting indoors.
Mr Hancock said the package was based on "what's working in Bolton," the Greater Manchester town which has already been offered enhanced support.
He said: "We know that this approach can work, we've seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases.
"This is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire, and of course it's vital that people in these areas - as everywhere else - come forward and get the jab as soon as they're eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together."
Latest government figures showed that of the top 20 areas with the highest infection rates in England in the week leading up to 3 June, 17 were in Greater Manchester or Lancashire.
Blackburn with Darwen had the highest rate, rising to 546.4 cases per 100,000 people, while in second-placed Bolton and third-placed Rossendale, the rates dropped to 319.6 cases per 100,000 and 288.2 per 100,000 respectively over the same period.
The other areas in the top ten - Hyndburn, Burnley, Ribble Valley and South Ribble in Lancashire and the Greater Manchester boroughs of Salford, Manchester and Bury - all also saw rates rise.