THE number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus over the last day in Oldham has shot up.

The amount of positive tests recorded yesterday, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics, was 185 which was up from 146 on Thursday.

The rise means that over the previous seven days there have been 863 cases, a worrying rise of 49.3 per cent week.

The number of cases across the country over the past week stands at 95,496 which was an increase of 29.9 per cent showing the rate of increase in Oldham is significantly faster than the national average.

There were two deaths recorded in the town yesterday which came within 28 days of a positive death. However, the weekly figure for this is nine which is six lower than in the previous seven days.

The infection rate in the north west is now between 1 and 1.4 having previously stood at between 0.9 and 1.1

The figures mean that a total of 17,756 people in Oldham have tested positive for Covid since the pandemic began and 465 people in the area have died within 28 days of testing positive and 520 whose cause of death have been listed as the virus.

The death rate within 28 days of a positive test stands at 196.1 per 100,000, meaning the town has had one of the worst death rates in the country.

Only Wigan, South Tyneside, Rotherham, Rochdale, Bury, Barnsley and Havering have suffered a worse fatality rate.

The current cases number is still significantly below the previous peak in Oldham which came on November 2 when there were 409 cases.

The amount of positive tests have fallen to 59 by the time the UK came out of its circuit break lockdown on December 2.

Oldham was previously thought to have the highest infection rate in August when the area was threatened with a local lockdown which was narrowly avoided.