MORE than 550 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset within the last 24-hour period, according to latest statistics.

The latest Government figures show 563 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Thursday, August 5.

In the Dorset Council area, 205 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 17,072 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 1,071 cases, with a case rate of 282 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 358 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 35,592.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 2,025 cases, with a case rate of 510.1 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 52,664 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 77 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 8,810.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 430 with a case rate of 239.4 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 30,215 new cases. There have been 5,982,581 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.