The rate of Covid in Oldham has finally begun to fall - in line with the national trend.

The latest figures released by the Office for National Statistics show that up to Sunday there were 77 cases, which was down from 119 at the end of last week.

The numbers mean that there were 768 cases over the last seven days in the town which represented a fall of 119 and 13.4 per cent from the previous week.

For much of the last week the rate was still rising at a time when it was falling nationally.

But now the rate in Oldham is falling faster then the national average over seven days which is falling by 7.2 per cent.

There were no deaths recorded in the latest data however the weekly total remains at 20 which was a rise from 11 the previous week.

The R rate in the north west has risen and is now believed to stand at between 1.2 and 1.5, having previously been at between 1 and 1.4

This means that Oldham is still spreading the virus faster than the national average which stands at between 1 and 1.4

The rate of infection per 100,000 people in Oldham is at 329.4, whereas the national figure is 614.8.

The latest figures mean that since the pandemic began there have been 18,768 people in Oldham to have tested positive.

This figure represented 7,915.3 per 100,000 people which is one of the highest infections recorded per local authority in the country.

The only areas to have recorded a higher rate of infection across the whole pandemic include Thurrock, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Redbridge, Pendle, Newham, Merthyr Tydfil, Medway, Havering, Burnley and Barking and Dagenham.

The infection rate in the area peaked at 402 on November 2 last year but had to fallen to just 59 by the time England came out of its circuit break lockdown.