FEWER than 300 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset, according to latest figures.

The latest Government statistics show 297 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Tuesday, August 17.

In the Dorset Council area, 129 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 19,041 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 1,174 cases, with a case rate of 309.1 per 100,000 people.

The BCP Council has seen 168 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area. The total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic is now 38,467.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,739 cases, with a case rate of 438 per 100,000 people.

Since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 57,508 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 58 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 9,644.

The seven-day rolling rate for New Forest area is 443 with a case rate of 246.6 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 26,852 new cases. There have been 6,322,241 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.