There were four more confirmed cases of coronavirus in Greater Manchester today.
At the start of the day the Department of Health said the number of confirmed cases in the UK had risen to 206.
And a total of 18 of those are in Greater Manchester.
So far, the number of positive cases in each borough are:
- Manchester – 3
- Bolton – 1
- Bury – 3
- Stockport – 2
- Oldham – 2
- Trafford – 4
- Wigan – 3
Three of the new cases confirmed today are in the city of Manchester itself.
Two Stockport residents have been treated in the city seeing government health officials class them as Manchester cases.
However Manchester town hall said they were today dealing with what they classify as their first cases of the virus, also known as Covid-19.
The Manchester Evening News understands one of those is a Royal Mail postal worker previously feared as having the illness.
No other details are known about the other Manchester cases and it is not known where they contracted the highly contagious flu-like illness.
Officials cite patient confidentiality for not releasing any further information about them.
Public Health England say they will be contacting those who have been in close contact with the residents and will advise any individuals or workplaces on any action required to prevent it spreading further.
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However the Director of Public Health for Manchester David Regan said tonight: “I’d like to reassure people that the risk to the general public remains low and all partners are working together to do everything we can to reduce and slow the virus spreading and ensure people are protected.”
Oldham Council did not reveal any further details about its new case but again said: “Risk to the public in Oldham remains low. Robust plans are in place to stop the virus spreading.”
Yesterday a new case was confirmed in Trafford taking the total there to four whilst a second Stockport case took its total to two.
Stockport’s first case was a patient at Wythenshawe Hospital and it is not yet clear where the patient contracted the illness.
A new case was also declared in Wigan, taking the total to three in that borough.
On Tuesday last week two people from Bury and one from Bolton were confirmed as having the virus.
The two patients in Bury were known to a man from the borough who became ill after returning from Milan – becoming the region’s first confirmed case of the disease.
Local public health officials insist the risk to the general public is low and urged people to “keep calm and wash their hands regularly.”
However the government have admitted a range of options including limiting public gatherings and events are among the options if the number of cases was to escalate.