THE number of recorded coronavirus cases in the borough increased by 163 over the latest 24-hour update, official figures show.

Public Health England figures show that 163 tested positive in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday, taking the borough's overall total since the start of the pandemic to 14,943.

The health body is now including Pillar Two tests – those carried out in the wider community – alongside Pillar One tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme.

The overall rate of infection in Wigan borough since the start of the pandemic now stands at 4,547 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 2,153.

In the council's most recently released COVID-19 tracker, in the seven days from October 31 to November 6, Wigan borough had 1,897 COVID-19 cases identified, a rate of 577.2 per 100,000 of the population and the second highest rate of new cases in Greater Manchester. This does not take into account the more recent days' data.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 20,051 over the 24-hour period to 1,410,732.

Wigan borough's cases were among the 280,261 recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 2,443 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, asymptomatic, have recovered and those that have died.