People in Greater Manchester and Lancashire advised to ‘minimise travel’

People in Greater Manchester and Lancashire have been advised to ‘minimise travel’ by the government.

The news has been revealed in relation to the new Delta Covid variant which is currently spreading around the country and our region, ITV News reports.

Residents in Greater Manchester and Lancashire are advised to minimise travel in and out of the area due to the growing number of Delta variant cases, according to updated advice published by the government.

As well as staying local, this new advice also says that wherever possible people should meet outside and keep two metres apart from anyone they don’t live with.

However, health secretary Matt Hancock didn’t actually mention the changes to advice when he spoke to the Commons on Tuesday.

Instead he announced that the government would deliver a ‘strengthened package of support’ to tackle increasing cases of the Delta variant – formerly known as the Indian variant – in affected areas.

He said: “I can tell the House that today, working with local authorities, we are providing a strengthened package of support based on what’s happening in Bolton to help Greater Manchester and Lancashire tackle the rise in the Delta variant that we are 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 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 are eligible because that is our way out of this pandemic together.”

The health secretary did not confirm exactly how many cases of the variant had been found in the region.