UK coronavirus LIVE: Death toll rises by 8 as Greater Manchester declares major incident amid virus surge

A major incident has been declared in Greater Manchester due to increases in coronavirus infection rates across “multiple localities”.

The decision to up the readiness of emergency and public services to respond to the escalating Covid-19 transmission rate in the region comes after the Government announced new lockdown restrictions for parts of the North West on Thursday.

It comes as Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick poured cold water on reported plans for more draconian lockdown measures in London and an expanded shielding programme.

Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll has risen by eight, bringing the total to 45,201. But separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 56,400 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

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