348 further coronavirus cases and one more death recorded in Newry, Mourne and Down

The number of coronavirus cases in Newry, Mourne and Down increased by 348 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 57,166 cases had been confirmed in Newry, Mourne and Down when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on February 8 (Tuesday), up from 56,818 on Monday.

The rate of infection in Newry, Mourne and Down now stands at 31,467 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Northern Ireland average of 30,242.

Since January 31, the UK Health Security Agency has changed the way it reports coronavirus cases.

It means if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 66,171 over the period, to 17,932,803.

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 currently only include LFT results for England and Northern Ireland, with lateral flow testing data for Scotland due to be added in the coming weeks.

There was also one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Newry, Mourne and Down.

The dashboard shows 238 people had died in the area by February 8 (Tuesday) – up from 237 on Monday.

It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is the same as the previous week.

They were among 3,136 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 Newry, Mourne and Down.

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