In the throes of a pandemic, Greater Manchester is about to welcome 100,000 students from around the country - our universities have a plan to stop coronavirus spreading

hereAs of August 13, the most up-to-date figures show a total of 301,938 people are currently receiving the benefit across the city-region, that’s around 10pc of the area’s 2.8m population.Manchester saw the biggest increase with 1674 new sign-ons in between July and August.Next came Salford with 644, then Oldham with 542 new claimants.Bolton came closely behind with 541 new applicants, then Rochdale with 471, then Tameside with 388, Stockport with 329, Wigan with 223, Bury with 203 and lastly

coronavirus pandemic swept across the UK - and the globe - it was clear that people with other life-limiting conditions would be impacted as NHS medics focused all their efforts on tackling the virus.

Here are 18 places in and around Greater Manchester where you can enjoy an idyllic stroll and witness the season in full swing:Just minutes from the city centre, Whitworth Park is a lovely bit of green space in the otherwise urban metropolis.There's wonderful scenery and tall 126 year-old plane trees, all which display an array of Autumn colours as the season progresses.It's a home to to fifteen species of breeding birds, among them great and blue tits, nuthatches and great spotted woodpeckers

Stockport and Wigan, bringing the boroughs in line with the rest of Greater Manchester, except Bolton where extra measures apply.

hereThis was the equivalent of around 22 per cent of the nearly 6.1 million FTE sickness days lost during the period across all staff groups in the NHS in England.The data showed that during the peak of the outbreak in April there were 690,569 FTE days lost due to Covid-19 - 30.6 per cent of the nearly 2.3 million absences recorded that month.At Stockport NHS Trust, more than a quarter (27.6 per cent) of sick days lost were Covid-19-related, the highest proportion locally.Both Stockport NHS

"Whitefield is like Tesco's for car thieves," says Maureen Patel.She has a point.CCTV footage of two criminals trying to take her husband's BMW 3 series captures their arrogant belief that they are untouchable.At 3.45am on Tuesday they arrived outside her home in the Bury suburb.As one wafts an amplifier in front of the porch windows of their house the other, holding a transmitter in his hand, gets into the car.He has no balaclava, no hoodie, over his face, and is tiptoeing on the driveway in

hereGMP said it has a Covid-19 contingency plan in place to minimise the impact on police resources, but said the virus 'remains an on-going concern for us as an emergency service'.The force added that following any positive tests among staff, 'internal track and trace protocols are launched and if there are indications that there is learning then we work with both individuals and the organisation to effect changes to minimise future infections amongst our staff.' During the first peak of

coronavirus tests were recorded in a week in Greater Manchester for the first time, the latest figures show.

coronavirus.

ten boroughs in the region are now at red alert level. Most of the boroughs in the region are under tighter lockdown rules than the rest of the UK.To find out what the rules are in your area, search here:Fines were issued in Blackley after officers shut down a party.There was loud music and a 'number of different households mixing at an address', police said in a Facebook post.Shorlty afterwards, police posted about a 'large event' in Platt Bridge, Wigan.When officers attended, they asked the

criminal offences over the past week, with M.E.N.

Coronavirus infection rates continue to rise sharply across most of Greater Manchester with all ten boroughs now at the highest level of alert for the first time.Stockport and Trafford have now recorded an infection rate of more than 50 cases per 100,000 people in the local population - it's the first time the two boroughs have reached that milestone since the height of the pandemic in April.Manchester has also seen a significant rise in cases, registering 100 positive tests for three days in a

The total number of coronavirus deaths at hospital trusts in Greater Manchester, as of Saturday, September 19, currently stands at:Each day the NHS in England publishes the number of deaths recorded by each hospital trust in the last 24-hour period.These are deaths where the person had tested positive for the virus or where COVID-19 was mentioned on their death certificate.NHS England's daily figures sometimes include previously uncounted deaths and they do not include deaths in care homes or

more stringent restrictions on social gatherings anyway.The increase in infection rates is concerning to public health officials, given that there have been widespread complaints of people unable to get tested across Greater Manchester.In Oldham, people with symptoms were turned away from three walk-in testing sites with one MP claiming the online booking system has 'fallen over'.

There may be a hint of an Indian summer on the way to Manchester in the next few days, but there's no getting away from the fact that the seasons are well and truly changing.The leaves across the region are beginning to turn, heralding the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.For people who love the cosier, cooler months, the chill in the air and the reddening of the leaves will be a welcome change.Greater Manchester is often at its prettiest at this time of year, when the trees turn

coronavirus infection rates soar in the last few weeks. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust both recorded one more death.The total number of coronavirus deaths at hospital trusts in Greater Manchester, as of Friday, September 11, currently stands at: Meanwhile in Greater Manchester, the latest figures show there are sharp increases in coronavirus infection rates in every single borough.

coronavirus cases for every local authority in England has been published by the government.

coronavirus cases.The latest data on coronavirus infection rates shows an increase in every Greater Manchester borough except Trafford.Bolton's rate continues to soar and has now reached 121.7 cases per 100,000 people.On Friday (September 4) health secretary Matt Hancock said that the easing has been made possible due to the hard work of 'residents, communities and local authorities', to bring infection rates down.He announced that casinos, bowling alleys and other leisure facilities can re-open

here. Pack snacks.

Salford has entered coronavirus red alert after the number of new infections in the city increased.