THE number of recorded coronavirus cases in the borough over the weekend was 528, official figures show.

Public Health England figures show that there were 528 positive cases recorded in total in Saturday, Sunday and Monday's figures.

The weekly infection rate in the borough stands at 420.2 per 100,000 for the seven days up to January 13, with 1,381 cases in that period.

The infection rate does not include the most recent days' data.

The rate signifies a slight decrease on the previous week with 1,515 cases recorded in the corresponding seven-day up to January 6, which saw a rate of 461 per 100,000 people.

The council’s latest Covid tracker said that the new variant of the virus is becoming increasingly common in the borough, and “now accounts for the majority of new cases”

In total 23,084 people have been confirmed as testing positive for COVID-19 by 9am on Monday, January 18 in Wigan borough since the start of the outbreak last year.

The overall rate of infection in Wigan borough since the start of the pandemic now stands at 7,024 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the England average of 5,255.

Wigan borough's cases were among the 475,558 recorded across the North West, a figure which rose by 14,012 over the period.

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