If the week began with concern within the Greater Manchester system about Covid rates here, that concern is turning into genuine alarm in many quarters, now expressed in expletives.
Cases have continued to rocket since Monday. Bolton’s infection rate is now six times the national average, at 179 cases per 100,000 people.
The borough has a positivity rate of around 10pc, according to today’s latest statistics, three times the level ministers generally feel comfortable with.Tameside’s numbers have doubled in seven days, now also creeping towards a rate of 100, as have those in Bury and Stockport; the same seven boroughs are all still in the red and the other three appear to be on their way.