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Coronavirus infection rates in Greater Manchester are 65% lower than when the region was first placed under Level 3 restrictions, new data has shown.
Rates have fallen the fastest in Salford, where they have fallen 76 percent in the past six weeks.
Across the region, the number of cases has fallen much faster than in the rest of the country, with a 30% drop in England as a whole.
It means that the infection rate in Greater Manchester is now only slightly above the national average, as the region is again placed at Tier 3.
It was on October 23 that Greater Manchester was first placed under Level 3 restrictions to curb the increase in the infection rate.
At that time, the rate for the region as a whole was 547.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants and it was still increasing.
But the increase in infection rates began to slow down in the following days, and when the national lockdown was introduced on November 5, the rates were beginning to trend downward.
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This has accelerated rapidly in the past four weeks and the number of cases has dropped by three-quarters in Salford, from 643.6 to less than the England average of 157 cases per 100,000 people.
Trafford has experienced the second-largest drop of 72 percent over the same time period and is now also below the national average.
Rochdale, which currently has the highest infection rate in Greater Manchester, has had the slowest drop in cases, but has still declined by 55 percent since Level 3 first went into effect on October 23. .
Most of the Greater Manchester areas reached their highest levels in late October and the first week of November.
Manchester has recorded the highest level of any area in the region, at 812.2 per 100,000, which occurred a few weeks earlier, on October 3, when a large number of cases were detected among the student population.
Oldham is the only other area that posted a weekly infection rate above 800, which was on November 4.
This animated chart (below) shows how rates have gone up and down in all districts since the beginning of September.
In England as a whole, rates have fallen just 30 percent since Oct. 23, but rates were much lower in the rest of the country at the time.
Local leaders and MPs in Stockport and Trafford have argued that their areas should be placed at Level 2 because the rates are lower than in other parts of Greater Manchester.
But Mayor Andy Burnham said at a press conference today that he thought it would be best if the region “moves as one” to avoid the confusion that was seen in the summer.
Greater Manchester leaders believe the drop in cases means the region should be placed at Level 2 when the current bands are revised on December 16.
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