ALMOST 500 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset within the last 24-hour period, according to latest statistics.

The latest Government figures show 490 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Friday, August 20.

In the Dorset Council area, 224 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 19,756 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 1,172 cases, with a case rate of 308.6 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 266 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 39,287.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,572 cases, with a case rate of 396 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 54 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 9,880.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 444 with a case rate of 247.1 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 37,314 new cases. There have been 6,429,147 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.