ANOTHER 23 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in Dorset in the past 24-hours.

Latest figures released on the government website show 18 cases have been confirmed in the BCP Council area up to 4pm on Wednesday, September 9.

This means that since the start of the pandemic, a total of 975 people have tested positive for Covid-19.

The rate per 100,000 of the population is 246.6.

Five more cases have been reported in the Dorset Council area during the same period.

A total of 704 people have tested positive for Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic with a rate of 186.

Elsewhere, seven new cases have been reported in the New Forest area, bringing the overall number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 to 539.

The rate per population is 299.3.

A further 12 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, NHS England said.

The total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals is 29,631,

Patients were aged between 50 and 92 years old and all but one patient had known underlying health conditions.

The dates of the deaths were between August 27 and September 8, with the majority on or after September 6.

One other death was reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.