139 further coronavirus cases in Lisburn and Castlereagh

The number of coronavirus cases in Lisburn and Castlereagh increased by 139 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 51,934 cases had been confirmed in Lisburn and Castlereagh when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 25 (Friday), up from 51,795 on Thursday.

The cumulativerate of infection in Lisburn and Castlereagh, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 35,461 cases per 100,000 people, lower than the Northern Ireland average of 35,790.

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 77,306 over the period, to 20,691,123.

People with a positive lateral flow test no longer need to take a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they have coronavirus symptoms.

UK case numbers now include LFT results for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Lisburn and Castlereagh.

The dashboard shows 247 people had died in the area by March 25 (Friday) – which was unchanged from Thursday.

It means there has been one death in the past week, which is a decrease on three the previous week.

They were among 3,292 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 Lisburn and Castlereagh.

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.