Ministers have drafted in more help from the military and extra support for testing and public health teams in parts of Greater Manchester and Lancashire after a surge in cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant first identified in India.
It comes as new internal NHS data shared with The Independent reveals the region is seeing a rise in hospital admissions, with 13 new patients with Covid-19 admitted to Manchester hospitals by 8am Tuesday.
Health secretary Matt Hancock said the new measures would include extra testing, as well as supervised in-school testing, and military support. He told MPs this approach had previously worked in south London and Bolton.
Ministers have also extended their ‘minimise travel’ advice to include Greater Manchester and Lancashire.
And local directors of public health will be given discretion to reintroduce face masks in communal areas in schools if they decide they are appropriate.
Across England, the latest hospital data shows there were 878 Covid-19 patients in hospital with a total of 66 new admissions in the past 24 hours to Tuesday. Across the northwest there are 246 Covid-19 patients, with 163 across Greater Manchester.
While admissions are rising the number of hospital discharges, 101 in the past day, has meant the number of cases in hospital overall has grown by just 19 on Tuesday.
Mr Hancock announced the enhanced support as he told MPs the government faces a “challenging decision” over whether or not to lift remaining lockdown restrictions across England on June 21.
He also made an appeal to those living in Greater Manchester and Lancashire to get tested and to have a coronavirus vaccine as soon as they are eligible, adding “because that is our way out of this pandemic together”.
Official statistics released yesterday showed just a tiny number of those in hospital with the Indian strain of the virus have had two doses of the vaccine.
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt has suggested that any delay to England’s roadmap to lift lockdown would only last a couple of weeks, because of the success of the vaccination programme.
Mr Hancock told MPs: “We are providing a strengthened package of support, based on what’s happening in Bolton, to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we are seeing there.
“This includes rapid response teams, putting in extra testing, military support and supervised in-school testing.”
“I want to encourage everyone in Manchester and Lancashire to get the tests on offer,” he added.
“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 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 are eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We want to provide the package of support that has been effective in Bolton to a wider area… to tackle the cases of the Delta variant.”
