FEWER than 350 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset within the last 24-hour period, according to latest statistics, as nationally more than 7m cases have been recorded since the start of the pandemic.

The latest Government figures show 322 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Monday, September 6.

In the Dorset Council area, 161 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 22,600 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 1,133 cases, with a case rate of 298.3 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 161 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 42,338.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,171 cases, with a case rate of 295 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 64,938 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 63 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 10,949.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 426 with a case rate of 237.1 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 41,192 new cases. There have been 7,018,927 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.