The number of daily cases in Oldham has shot up over the last day, after appearing to be falling over much of the last week.

The data released by the Office of National Statistics show that there were 114 cases recorded in the town today, which was up from 68 on Tuesday.

The rate had been above 100 for much of last week but had fallen earlier in this week.

The numbers mean that the number of cases over the last seven days is 702, which still represents a fall of 23.5 per cent from the period before this.

The rate of Covid in Oldham is still in line with the national picture where the weekly rate is currently falling by 21.5 per cent.

The figures mean that a total of 19,045 people in the town have tested positive since the pandemic began.

There were also a further five deaths reported in Oldham, meaning there have been 18 deaths over the last seven days in the town from the virus.

The weekly figure is encouragingly down ten per cent from the previous week.

The deaths mean there have been 498 people in Oldham who have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid and a total of 552 where the virus was listed as the cause on the death certificate.

Oldham has been one of the worst affected areas by Covid with it suffering one of the highest rates of people to have been infected and one of the worst fatality rates.

The lasted indications are that the R rate of the virus could be higher in the north west than it is across the nation.

The national estimate is that it is between 1.2 and 1.3 whereas here it is believed to be between 1.2 and 1.5

At a rate above one the virus spreads exponentially whereas below one it will die out eventually.

The latest numbers also showed that a total of 4,609,740 people across the country had received their first dose of the vaccination.