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

The latest Government figures show 496 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Saturday, July 31.

In the Dorset Council area, 171 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 16,296 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 913 cases, with a case rate of 241.2 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 325 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 34,242.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,792 cases, with a case rate of 453.3 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 50,538 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 74 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 8,563.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 405 with a case rate of 224.9 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 26,114 new cases. There have been 5,856,528 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.