Greater Manchester’s boroughs could be split into different tiers, Andy Burnham says

The boroughs of Greater Manchester could be split into different tiers, Mayor Andy Burnham has suggested at a press conference.

Mr Burnham held his weekly coronavirus press conference yesterday, and was joined by his deputy for crime and policing, Bev Hughes, as well as the leader of Manchester City Council Council, Sir Richard Leese.

The mayor said that while there has been a ‘significant decline’ in hospital admissions across Greater Manchester, the infection rates are varying in different areas, with cases in Bury actually growing by 5% (to 225.7 per 100,000), while in Trafford they’ve dropped down into double digits (81.5 per 100,000).

Daniel Nisbet / Flickr

Because of this, Mr Burnham said that ‘it does make sense’ to consider changes on a borough by borough basis, so as not to ‘hold back’ areas and local businesses in places which are less affected by coronavirus.

However, the mayor added that while the idea of changing tiers on a borough basis had some merit, there was also still a case for the whole region to go down into Tier 2.

Mr Burnham urged ministers to give Greater Manchester the ‘wider consideration’ they gave London when making the tiering decisions, following the prediction that 100,000 people could lose their jobs in our region by June 2021.

He said: “This is a critical time for the economy, particularly the city-centre economy. If you were to keep cities in Tier 3 over the holiday period, it does have the effect of creating an incentive for people to have more informal gatherings in the home.”

This news comes after it was announced that London now has the highest infection rate in the country, after it narrowly avoided going into Tier 3 just two weeks ago.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said the government will be re-assessing the current tiers next Wednesday, December 16th, before making an announcement on December 17th.

The current infection rates for Greater Manchester’s boroughs, per 100,000 of the population:

• Bury – 225.7 (+5%)
• Rochdale – 215.4 (-19%)
• Wigan – 187.1 (-12%)
• Manchester – 169.9 (-10%)
• Bolton – 163.5 (-26%)
• Oldham – 153.5 (-33%)
• Salford – 129.8 (-17%)
• Tameside – 117.9 (-20%)
• Stockport – 113.5 (-18%)
• Trafford – 85.1 (-30%)
  

In comparison, the national average in England currently sits at 152.1, with London’s infection rate now confirmed at 192.