Oldham’s death rate from Covid has plummeted again, as one more death was recorded today.

The latest data released by the Office of National Statistics shows that there have been 11 deaths in the town over the last week.

The figure is a fall of 39.9 per cent from the seven days before this.

The area had a rising death rate for parts of last week and earlier this week but now it has plummeted.

The data also shows that there were 48 positive tests recorded in Oldham today.

The weekly total of 338 is a fall of 100 and 22.8 per cent from the seven days prior to this.

Across the country as a whole the number of cases is falling 11.8 per cent, so Oldham’s rate is falling at double the national average.

The number of people per 100,000 in the town who have the virus stands at 161.5, above the UK wide figure of 119.

The R rate, the rate at which one person passes the virus onto another, is still between 0.6 and 0.9 in the north west.

When this figure is above one the virus spreads exponentially whereas below it will die out eventually.

The latest R rate, which is the same across the country as a whole, means the country is on track to eliminate Covid as the path to ending lockdown was unveiled.

The latest cases mean there have been 21,400 people in Oldham to have tested positive for the virus during the course of the pandemic.

The number works out at a rate of 9,025.3 per 100,000 people, which is significantly above the UK wide average of 6189.9.

The figures mean people in Oldham are around 30 per cent more likely to have had the virus.

The latest data also shows there have been 17,916,181 people who have been given their first jab of the vaccine.