A major incident has been declared in Greater Manchester this evening amid a significant rise in coronavirus infection rates.
Gold command meetings of senior figures from the police, local authorities and other agencies, to discuss the virus have been taking place over the weekend, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Major incidents are often declared after a terror attack or major flood and mean a region can access extra national resources if necessary.
Speaking to the newspaper, leader of Manchester City Council Richard Leese said: “Although the council and partner organisations have been working closely to tackle the impacts of the pandemic since early this year, declaring a major incident means we can ramp this up further.
“It allows the establishment of a central command structure to oversee the response and enables agencies involved to draw on extra resources.”
