In the Dorset Council area, 69 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.

Public Health England figures show that 9,882 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Tuesday (February 2) in Dorset, up from 9,813 the same time on Monday.

Meanwhile, the number of recorded coronavirus cases in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole increased by 161 in the same time period.

Public Health England figures show that 22,494 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Tuesday (February 2) in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, up from 22,333 the same time on Monday.

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.

The county's cases were among the 192,959 recorded across the South West, a figure which rose by 876 over the period.

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

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 16,840 over the period, to 3,852,623.