THE number of recorded coronavirus cases in Dorset has increased by nearly 60 in the last 24-hour period, according to latest figures.

Data from Public Health England show 59 cases have been reported across both the Dorset Council area and the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole region in the last 24 hours.

Latest figures show that in the Dorset Council area, 31 new cases have been confirmed. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the total number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 stands at 11,468.

Meanwhile the number of recorded coronavirus cases in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole increased by 28 in the last 24 hours. Public Health England figures show that 24,896 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19.

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.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 6,609 over the period, to 4,248,286.

The county's cases were among the 214,096 recorded across the South West, a figure which rose by 312 over the period.

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