Although the Ashton, Leigh and Wigan NHS Trust did not disclose any details about the patient, it was rumoured to be someone from Standish.
Until they fell ill the Trust had been dealing only with ‘possible’ and ‘probable’ cases.

But, since then, the virus has spread quickly across the borough.
A change in the way the health authorities are dealing with swine flu means that it is impossible to know how many people have contracted the virus and are currently ill.

As the virus is in the community the number could also change significantly on a daily basis.
However, a lot of people have been confirmed as having swine flu since the first person fell ill.

Two brothers, both pupils at The Deanery High School, are thought to have been the second and third people to contract the virus in the borough.

They were confirmed as having the illness on July 7, while the manager of a sheltered accommodation home in Newtown was diagnosed with swine flu around the same time.

The virus then spread through the Deanery, with headteacher Stephen Brierley confirming that seven pupils and a teacher had fallen ill by July 10.

A “larger number” of pupils had also reported experiencing cold and flu-like symptoms.

Since then Heinz has said that a worker at its Kitt Green factory has contracted the virus and is recovering at home.

And Trust bosses confirmed on Thursday that schools across the borough have now been affected by the virus.

Two cases have been confirmed at Golborne High, while a pregnant teacher who works at Westleigh Methodist Primary School was told to stay at home after three pupils were suspected of having the virus.

The mother of a Hindley High pupil, who did not want to be named, reported that her son had been off school for a week with swine flu and a number of other pupils were believed to have fallen ill with the virus.

An estimated 25 in every 100,000 people across the North West are contracting the illness each week, according the Royal College of GPs. The virus has now killed 29 people in England and Scotland.

A spokesman for the Health Protection Agency in the North West said: “There has been a jump in cases although the region still has fewer than any other part of the country.