148 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in Antrim and Newtownabbey

A Coronavirus testing centre in Dalston, east London. There were a further 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, taking the overall number to 429,277. A further 34 deaths were recorded.

The number of coronavirus cases in Antrim and Newtownabbey increased by 148 over the weekend, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 53,842 cases had been confirmed in Antrim and Newtownabbey when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 11 (Monday), up from 53,694 on Friday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Antrim and Newtownabbey, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 37,454 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Northern Ireland average of 36,791.

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.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded over the weekend in Antrim and Newtownabbey.

The dashboard shows 302 people had died in the area by April 11 (Monday) – up from 300 on Friday.

It means there have been three deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on four the previous week.

They were among 3,367 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 Antrim and Newtownabbey.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

Figures reported on a Monday are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths over the weekend.