Salford has four new confirmed cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to 1,355, up from the previous day's 1,351.
Elsewhere in Greater Manchester, Manchester now has a total of 3,004 (up from 2,987), followed by Wigan with 2,143 (up from 2,141), Oldham 1,897 (up from 1,890), Bolton 1,885 (up from 1,881), Rochdale 1,692 (up from 1,673), Stockport 1,646 (up from 1,641), Tameside 1,540 (up from 1,537), Bury 1,294 (up from 1,291), and Trafford 1,273 (up from 1,271).
There were no new virus-related deaths reported at Salford Royal Hospital.
A new weekly Local Authority Watchlist of areas with high virus cases includes Oldham and Rochdale in Greater Manchester as 'areas of concern', with Lancashire's Blackburn and Darwen, and Pendle declared as areas of 'enhanced support'.
Meanwhile, the Government yesterday gave Salford City Council new powers to order a local lockdown, or 'lightning lockdown' as Boris Johnson put it...
"It has to be right that we take local action in response to local outbreaks" he added "There is no point shutting down a city in one part of the country to contain an outbreak in another part of the country.
The Prime Minister explained that local councils could "close whole sectors or types of premises in an area", while advising people in specific postcodes to stay at home.
Unfortunately, Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, and the three local MPs recently wrote to the Government insisting that they don't have accurate or fast enough information to enable a 'lightning' response*...
* See previous Salford Star article – click here