178 further coronavirus cases in Gateshead

A Coronavirus testing centre in Dalston, east London. There were a further 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, taking the overall number to 429,277. A further 34 deaths were recorded.

The number of coronavirus cases in Gateshead increased by 178 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 65,961 cases had been confirmed in Gateshead when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 29 (Tuesday), up from 65,783 on Monday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Gateshead, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 32,662 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the England average of 31,243.

In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 80,656 over the period, to 20,986,171.

There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Gateshead.

The dashboard shows 569 people had died in the area by March 29 (Tuesday) – which was unchanged from Monday.

It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is an increase on none the previous week.

They were among 8,037 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, so some areas might see their figures revised down.

The figures also show that nearly two-thirds of people in Gateshead have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 113,431 people had received a booster or third dose by March 28 (Monday) – 63% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 145,597 people (81%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67% of people aged 12 and above had received a booster.

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