A total of 29 people have tested positive for coronavirus across Dorset over the last 24 hours, official figures show.

There were seven new recorded cases in the Dorset Council area and 22 in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole (BCP) area.

Public Health England figures show that a total of 777 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Tuesday in Dorset, up from 770 the same time on Monday.

Meanwhile, 1,208 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Tuesday (September 29) in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, up from 1,186 the same time on Monday.

The rate of infection in Dorset now stands at 205 cases per 100,000 people, and in BCP 306 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 680.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 7,143 over the period, to 446,156.

Dorset's cases were among the 17,748 recorded across the South West, a figure which rose by 182 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.

The health body is now including Pillar 2 tests – those carried out by commercial partners – alongside Pillar 1 tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme.