349 further coronavirus cases in Newcastle

The number of coronavirus cases in Newcastle increased by 349 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 102,639 cases had been confirmed in Newcastle when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 1 (Friday), up from 102,290 on Thursday.

From April 1, free coronavirus testing has ended for millions of people in England with most people now needing to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

However, it will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and until the summer in Wales.

The cumulative rate of infection in Newcastle, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 33,452 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the England average of 31,591.

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 69,449 over the period, to 21,216,874.

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

The dashboard shows 583 people had died in the area by April 1 (Friday) – which was unchanged from Thursday.

It means there have been no deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on two the previous week.

They were among 8,057 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 Newcastle.

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 more than half of people in Newcastle have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 155,875 people had received a booster or third dose by March 31 (Thursday) – 52% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 208,017 people (70%) 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.