Public Health England have identified four new variants - two are deemed to be 'under investigation' and two 'of concern'.
The Royal Bolton Hospital serves a large catchment area, and on top of normal winter pressures is dealing with the huge strain of the pandemic.
A Nervtag scientist has said even if variants are resistant to the Covid vaccines, they will still offer some protection.
The government says up to 2,000 highly trained workers identified by the government will be offered Covid-19 vaccines in the coming days.
Some 530,000 doses of the vaccine will be available for rollout across the UK from Monday, with vulnerable groups identified as the priority for immunisation.
The first vaccines will arrive at hospitals on Monday, ahead of the first jabs being given on Tuesday.
The Oxford Covid vaccine has shown to produce a strong immune response in older adults. This is good news, but it's not yet the news we...
Experts called for more research as they warned that even people with mild illness can suffer long-term after-effects.
The REGN-COV2 antibody treatment is being given to patients as part of a UK trial.
Social distancing measures could be reintroduced, Robert Peston has learned.