DORSET has now recorded 68,000 Covid-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic after more than 300 new cases were reported in the latest statistics.

The latest Government figures show 335 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Saturday, September 18.

In the Dorset Council area, 177 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 24,283 cases confirmed across this area.

Over the latest rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area, there have been 909 Covid-19 cases, with a case rate of 239.3 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 158 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 43,969.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 868 cases, with a case rate of 218.6 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 68,252 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 53 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 11,604.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 362 with a case rate of 201.5 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 30,144 new cases. There have been 7,400,739 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.