181 further coronavirus cases in Gateshead

The number of coronavirus cases in Gateshead increased by 181 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 30,500 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Gateshead when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on October 21 (Thursday), up from 30,319 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Gateshead now stands at 15,103 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 12,993.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 51,484 over the period, to 8,641,221.

However, there were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Gateshead.

The dashboard shows 486 people had died in the area by October 21 (Thursday) – which was unchanged from Wednesday.

It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on seven the previous week.

They were among 6,692 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 three-quarters of people in Gateshead have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 136,271 people had received both jabs by October 20 (Wednesday) – 75% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 79% of people aged 12 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.