86 further coronavirus cases in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon

The number of coronavirus cases in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon increased by 86 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 79,495 cases had been confirmed in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 1 (Friday), up from 79,409 on Thursday.

Free testing will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and until the summer in Wales.

But from April, it has ended for millions of people in England with most people now needing to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

The cumulative rate of infection in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 36,595 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Northern Ireland average of 36,300.

In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 69,449 over the period, to 21,216,874.

There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.

The dashboard shows 451 people had died in the area by April 1 (Friday) – which was unchanged from Thursday.

It means there have been five deaths in the past week, which is an increase on four the previous week.

They were among 3,329 deaths recorded across Northern Ireland.

The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death, so some areas might see their figures revised down.