Wigan put on red alert as Covid-19 cases suddenly soar

Wigan has been declared a "red alert" Covid-19 area after infection rates rocketed within a matter of days.
Chapel Lane testing centre has been closed to new bookings for several daysChapel Lane testing centre has been closed to new bookings for several days
Chapel Lane testing centre has been closed to new bookings for several days

For a long time this summer the borough has experienced a comparatively low rate of cases, which got it an exemption from certain restrictions affecting other parts of Greater Manchester in late August.

But latest Public Health England figures show that there has been a sudden spike in the last few days, taking it from a figure in the mid-40s per 100,000 residents to 58.73.

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This means it now joins seven other areas of the city region with infection rates over 50.

And 50 has generally been the figure used when the Government considers local interventions to reduce them.

As wigantoday reported earlier in the week, Wigan's Chapel Lane testing facility has had to cease taking new bookings due to a backlog as people in the area struggle to get tested through the national network and by ringing 119. It was hoped that the centre would soon be taking bookings again.

It is not clear at this stage what has caused Wigan's sudden upsurge.

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But wigantoday has been contacted by several readers who have claimed that residents of Bolton - deprived of hospitality in their own borough because of a Covid-induced lockdown against their much higher infection rates - have been coming to Wigan in cars and on the train to use its pubs and restaurants.

The fear is that some of those visitors have helped to re-spread the illness here.

The Government's Coronavirus in the UK dashboard show that between September 8 and 14 there were 193 new Covid-19 cases reported in the borough.

On September 14 alone there were 50 cases reported.