BURY is to receive a package of support to tackle the rise of the Indian variant in the borough, the Government has confirmed, while issuing new travel guidelines for people living in the town.

The borough now has one of the highest covid infections in the country and where the Delta variant, previously called the Indian mutation , is spreading fast.

The support will mirror that provided to neighbouring Bolton, where infection rates are falling.

And locals are being urged to 'minimise travel'.

Health secretary Matt Hancock said the Government was “providing a strengthened package of support” to tackle the rise in the Delta variant.

Greater Manchester has moved to what has described as a covid enhanced response area

He told MPs in the Commons: “I can tell the House that today working with local authorities, we are providing a strengthened package of support based on what’s working in Bolton, to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we’re seeing there.

“This includes rapid response teams, putting in extra testing, military support and supervised in school testing. I want to encourage everyone in Manchester and Lancashire to get the tests on offer.

“We know that this approach can work, we’ve seen it work in south London and in Bolton in stopping a rise in the number of cases.

“This is the next stage of tackling the pandemic in Manchester and in Lancashire, and of course it’s vital that people in these areas – as everywhere else – come forward and get the jab as soon as they’re eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together.”

Peopl in Bury are being told to 'minimise' travel in and out of the town, under new guidance just published.

The Greater Manchester boroughs have been issued with additional guidance to contain the Indian variant, which is spreading fast throughout the region.

The advice published today is the same as that issued to Bolton and caused confusion and worry about travel plans.

Now people in Bury are being told to use "particular caution" when outside the home and outside their bubbled.

They should:

meet outside rather than inside where possible

keep 2 metres apart from people that you don’t live with (unless you have formed a support bubble with them), this includes friends and family you don’t live with minimise travel in and out of affected areas

The guidance is just advisory and people cannot be fined.

Metro Mayor Andy Burnham said it was “very important to keep a sense of proportion” about the announcement.

He said: “This is guidance, it is advice to the public. It is not a lockdown. It is not a ban… this is not about telling people to cancel their plans, it is about asking them to be careful in setting any new ones, to minimise non-essential travel.”

He said it was a “sensible approach given the rise in cases that we’ve seen” and that he was grateful to the Government and Health Secretary Matt Hancock for the “joint approach that has been taken to date”.

A total of 5.7 million people live in areas of England covered by the Government’s enhanced coronavirus restrictions, which include minimising travel in and out of the affected areas and to meet outside rather than indoors.

This is the equivalent of 10% of the population of England.

The restrictions apply to areas where the new Covid-19 variant – known officially as the Delta variant – is spreading quickly.

The areas are the local authorities of Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Kirklees, Leicester, Hounslow and North Tyneside, along with the 10 Metropolitan borough councils in Greater Manchester (Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan) and the 12 local councils covered by Lancashire County Council (Burnley, Chorley, Fylde, Hyndburn, Lancaster, Pendle, Preston, Ribble Valley, Rossendale, South Ribble, West Lancashire and Wyre).