257 further coronavirus cases and one more death recorded in Antrim and Newtownabbey

The number of coronavirus cases in Antrim and Newtownabbey increased by 257 over the weekend, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 53,275 cases had been confirmed in Antrim and Newtownabbey when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 4 (Monday), up from 53,018 on Friday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Antrim and Newtownabbey, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 37,059 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Northern Ireland average of 36,441.

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 142,807 over the last 24 hours, to 21,359,681.

Free tests in England were withdrawn for most people in the country on April 1, meaning the reported number of coronavirus cases in the UK is likely to be an underestimate.

There was also one more coronavirus death recorded over the weekend in Antrim and Newtownabbey.

The dashboard shows 299 people had died in the area by April 4 (Monday) – up from 298 on Friday.

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

They were among 3,342 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.