NEW seven-day figures for the coronavirus rate have put the tally higher than those released earlier today.

Council bosses had urged residents to follow social distancing restrictions after the rate jumped from 25.8 to 59.4 cases per 100,000 people, up to September 5.

But the seven-day record up to September 7 shows the infection rate has creeped up to 69.6 per 100,000, or a fresh 133 cases, for the borough.

And in neighbouring Bolton the rate has topped 160 cases per 100,000 - the highest rate in England.

Earlier Cllr Andrea Simpson, health cabinet member, had described the lower figure as "quite alarming".

She added: "We need to get this rate down urgently, or we risk being placed into the kind of additional measures that Bolton has seen this week, and other areas from Oldham to Rochdale and Leicester."

Young working adults were said to be increasingly vulnerable to contracting Covid-19 - and the spread was across the borough. Whitefield was one of the worst affected areas.

In Bolton, 462 new cases were recorded in the seven days to September 7 - the equivalent of 160.7 per 100,000 people. This is up sharply from 80.0 in the seven days to August 31.

Birmingham has the second highest rate, up from 32.0 to 85.4 with 975 new cases. Preston is in third place, where the rate has risen from 35.6 to 85.2, with 122 new cases.

Other areas recording notable week-on-week jumps include Salford, Bradford, Sunderland, Manchester and Leeds.