AUTHORITIES across the borough are now planning for the coronavirus crisis to last “at least” until next summer, Bury Council executives have confirmed.

Public health bosses are preparing for an increase in Covid-19 cases as Bury, like other parts of the country, faces the risk of a second wave of infection.

As part of its preparations, a local outbreak plan was successfully tested on Wednesday ahead of an NHS clinical commissioning group (CCG) meeting.

Geoff Little is chief executive of Bury Council and chief officer of the CCG.

He said: “We have to plan to live with Covid-19 for some time, this could be until next summer.

“We need to be prepared for an increase in cases and the risk of a second wave.

“Looking ahead, we also have to face the challenge of winter where we may well see more cases of flu along with an increased demand for services.

“We have to be ready for the worst-case scenario and our outbreak control plan will help us manage situations swiftly and decisively, to tackle any rise in cases and keep people safe.

“A key priority for us is to ensure that local people, communities and businesses can be protected from infection.

“As we have seen in neighbouring areas, infection rates in some towns have been increasing at a community level and we need to prevent this where possible.

“Everyone can play their part and we are asking local people to continue with social distancing, hand hygiene and wearing a face covering when recommended, getting tested early if you have symptoms and self-isolating when advised.

“We are boosting our testing capacity and where there may be a greater risk of transmission, we will engage with and support local people and communities to prevent or minimise transmission.”

Local authorities now have access to data about individuals who have tested positive for Covid-19 to help them in their local “track and trace” efforts.

But Mr Little said that sometimes, some important data is still missing.

This includes addresses as sometimes location is limited to postcode alone.

He said: “These bits of information are crucial. The data is flowing, but it is not yet fully complete.”

According to the latest data published in Greater Manchester, there were 9.4 positive tests of coronavirus per 100,000 of Bury’s population in the week ending July 18, among the lowest of the 10 boroughs in the city-region.