439 further coronavirus cases in Newry, Mourne and Down

The number of coronavirus cases in Newry, Mourne and Down increased by 439 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 54,797 cases had been confirmed in Newry, Mourne and Down when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on February 1 (Tuesday), up from 54,358 on Monday.

The rate of infection in Newry, Mourne and Down now stands at 30,163 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the Northern Ireland average of 28,883.

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 112,452 over the period, to 17,428,345.

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 were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Newry, Mourne and Down.

The dashboard shows 236 people had died in the area by February 1 (Tuesday) – which was unchanged from Monday.

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

They were among 3,115 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, so some areas might see their figures revised down.