There’s still no agreement between the government and local leaders over the terms of a move into Tier 3 restrictions.
A government spokesperson has this evening said it is “carefully considering next steps” after the government and local leaders including Mayor Andy Burnham failed to reach a conclusion this afternoon.
“Disappointingly, we have still not been able to reach an agreement,” the spokesperson said.
“This is particularly concerning against the backdrop of rising cases and hospitalisations in Greater Manchester. We are carefully considering next steps.”
The stand-off continues amid attempts by Andy Burnham, the Greater Manchester Mayor, to claim an improved support package should the region, as expected, fall into the highest alert level of Covid restrictions.
That level would bring in a new set of measures, with pubs and bars that don’t serve food being forced to close and different households being once again banned from meeting in gardens.
Rochdale council leader Allen Brett gave an insight into this afternoon’s meeting on Radio 5 Live, saying it started with everyone thinking they were going to reach a deal, but with 15 minutes to go the government “suddenly seemed to change their position”, resulting in no deal.
This afternoon in the House of Commons, Health Secretary Matt Hancock had told MPs that the government was “working hard” on a deal in Greater Manchester.
Downing Street earlier claimed that Greater Manchester’s intensive care capacity could be overwhelmed by Covid-19 cases within week.
The Prime Minister’s official spokeman told a Westminster briefing that hospital admissions in Greater Manchester are “doubling every nine days”.
But the latest case data has actually showed that the infection rate in Manchester itself is falling, down 20% to 439.4 cases per 100,000 people for the week ending October 13th.
The figure in Trafford, meanwhile, is also on the decline, down 8% to 313.4 cases per 100,000 people for the same period.
