For all the latest news from in and around Bolton, sign up for the free MyBolton newsletter The Indian variant of coronavirus is now dominant in the UK, Public Health England has said.
Experts believe the Covid-19 strain first identified in India, and now referred to as the Delta variant, has overtaken the Kent strain as the most active variant in the UK.
PHE has also said there are early signs that the Indian variant may lead to an increased risk of hospitalisation - but that “more data is needed to have more confidence in that finding”.
The most recent data shows that a total of 12,431 cases of the Indian variant have been confirmed in the UK up to yesterday (June 2).
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk