GM Mayor Andy Burnham to ask Government to remove Wigan's Covid-19 restrictions

The leaders of all 10 Greater Manchester councils have unaniously agreed to call on the government to ease the current Covid-19 restrictions in Wigan Borough and other parts of Greater Manchester following a decline in infection rates across the region.

Tighter lockdown rules were reintroduced across the city-region and other parts of northern England on July 31 following an increase in coronavirus cases. If the proposal is approved all boroughs, excluding Oldham - which continues to see higher rates of transmission - will see some restrictions eased, though Wigan will have more rules relaxed than othes.

At a press conference, Wigan Council leader David Molyneux joined Mr Burnham and other authority chiefs to urge government to ease restrictions in nine of the 10 GM boroughs. The proposal includes easing the current restrictions on homes and businesses - including beauty salons and bowling alleys - in Wigan borough, and just businesses in the other boroughs.

Mr Burnham said: “We will be going to the Government to say that the measures are working and we would want to see them remain in place in nine of our 10 boroughs with the higher number of cases. Because obviously we need to keep bringing these figures down further.

“In the case of Wigan, however, it is clear, I think, that the measures have had a preventing impact and have stopped the increase that we’ve seen in Greater Manchester.”

He added: “I support David [Molyneux] and the council in saying that, at this point, it is unfair on people in Wigan to continue those restrictions, given the case numbers are a fairly consistent level. And that’s why we’ll be asking the Secretary of State to release Wigan borough from the Greater Manchester restrictions, however, to keep them in place in the other nine boroughs and to keep them under review.”

Coun Molyneux thanked residents for doing their bit to reduce the spread of the virus.

He said: “I’d like to thank our residents for being responsible, patient and kind throughout the pandemic. I know it hasn’t been easy but by working together and following the rules we’ve managed to keep our loved ones safe.

“I know the tighter restrictions have frustrated many of our residents who felt them unfair, especially since our rates have been consistently low. I share their frustration and have been working closely with the Mayor and leaders across Greater Manchester to ensure that those concerns are heard and acted upon.”

When asked what Wigan was doing differently to other boroughs to keep new cases of Covid-19 low, Coun Molyneux said: “Wigan probably started from a lower base that the other boroughs, and so we’ve maintained that.”

He added: “Our teams in Public Health and the health professionals in general in Wigan have worked continuously hard to get the message out, and I still think we need to get the message out, should Wigan come out of restrictions, because [Covid-19] not gone away. It is still there and it still something we have to be very vigilant on. We really push the message home in Wigan, and it’s certainly making a difference. Through the figures that we are seeing here today, the Wigan story has been consistent in terms of the level. I think it is only right now that we move out of restrictions, if the Government allow us to.”