THE number of new Covid cases in the borough has almost doubled in a week.

There were 586 new cases confirmed in the week up to June 6, up by 96 per cent compared to the week before, raising the infection rate to 178.3 per 100,000.

The area with the highest infection rate in the borough during that period was in Abram and Bickershaw where 37 new cases were confirmed over the week.

However, only four new coronavirus cases were confirmed during that week in Leigh North which is located directly to the east of Abram and Bickershaw.

Golborne had the lowest infection rate in the borough, having also only had four new cases during the seven-day period, two more than the week before.

None of the neighbourhoods immediately surrounding Golborne had more than 10 new cases, but most had fewer than three cases in the previous week.

Wigan South had the highest number of new cases in that part of the borough with 26 during that period, more than double compared to the week before.

Meanwhile, Wigan Central had 13 new cases and Wigan East had 11 new cases.

All of the neighbourhoods bordering Bolton had infection rates above 200 per 100,000 in that period except for Atherton South East and Tyldesley West.

In the north of the borough, Aspull and Red Rock recorded 20 new cases that week, raising its infection rate to 325.5 per 100,000, a 233.3 pc increase.

Six new cases were confirmed in Standish South, 10 in Standish North and 8 in Shevington, 10 more across the three areas compared to the week before.

Speaking at a live virtual Q&A session last week, Wigan’s director of public health Prof Kate Ardern addressed the rising infection rate in the borough.

She said: “Our Covid rates unfortunately are increasing across the borough. This is line with the pattern across the whole of Greater Manchester and a number of parts of Lancashire, particularly the southern part of Lancashire.

“Normally, in Wigan, we have a bit of a protective barrier around us because our social geography, the people we tend to mix with, tend to be in Cheshire and Lancashire and Merseyside – it’s the rugby league boroughs staying together.

“But unfortunately our neighbours in South Lancs – Chorley, South Ribble in particular and Ribble Valley – are showing the same patterns that we’re showing in Greater Manchester.

“Our neighbours thankfully in Merseyside, St Helens, and our neighbours to the south in Warrington, are still having very low rates of Covid.”

Prof Arden said the cases across Wigan are now predominantly the Delta variant, first identified in India, which is ‘much more transmissible’.

She added: “That’s why, as well as the fantastic rollout of the vaccination programme, we’ve still go to be observing Hands, Face, Space and very, very, very definitely, get out in the fresh air. If you’re meeting your social bubble indoors, please make sure you have the windows and doors open.

“Get out as much as you can in the fresh air.”