118 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in Gateshead

The number of coronavirus cases in Gateshead increased by 118 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 24,081 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Gateshead when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on August 26 (Thursday), up from 23,963 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Gateshead now stands at 11,924 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the England average of 10,193.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 37,962 over the period, to 6,628,709.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Gateshead.

The dashboard shows 462 people had died in the area by August 26 (Thursday) – up from 460 on Wednesday.

It means there have been five deaths in the past week, which is an increase on three the previous week.

They were among 6,303 deaths recorded across the North East.

The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Gateshead.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

The figures also show that three-quarters of people in Gateshead have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 125,173 people had received both jabs by August 25 (Wednesday) – 74% of those aged 18 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 77% of people aged 16 and above had received a second dose of the jab.

Unlike at local level, the national rate was calculated using mid-2020 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.