Oldham still has a rising death rate from Coronavirus, as the UK sets out a path for coming out of lockdown.

Data released by the Office of National Statistics shows there have been 18 fatalities in the town which came within 28 days of testing positive for the virus over the last week.

The figure is a rise of 12.5 per cent compared to the seven days before this.

Across the country as a whole the death rate is coming down by 27.4 per cent.

The figures mean that Oldham is doing almost 40 per cent worse than the rest of the UK in getting rid of deaths from the virus.

The death rate had begun to fall towards the end of last week but is now rising again.

The data also shows there were 61 positive tests for the virus in Oldham today.

The weekly total for cases stands at 350, which is a fall of 21.9 per cent from the period before this.

Across the whole of the country cases are dropping 16.2 per cent, meaning Oldham is doing better in this area.

The rate of Covid per 100,000 people is 168.7 in the town compared to 124 across the UK, however this has fallen significantly in both areas.

The latest deaths over the last week mean there have been 574 deaths in Oldham which came with 28 days of a positive test for the virus.

There have been 631 deaths where the virus was listed as the official cause.

The death total was relatively flat between the beginning of June to the start of November last year, going from 203 to 278 over those four months.

However they have risen from 278 to 574 since the start of November, meaning more than half of the deaths in the area have taken place in the last three and a half months.

The death rate per 100,000 people in Oldham stands at 241.1, above the national average of 180.8.

The data also shows there have been 17,582,121 people who have received their first jab of the vaccine in the country.