MORE than 300 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset within the last 24-hour period, according to latest statistics.

The latest Government figures show 326 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Sunday, August 29.

In the Dorset Council area, 159 new Covid-19 cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 21,252 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 1,236 cases, with a case rate of 325.4 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 167 new cases recorded across the BCP Council area, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 40,996.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,396 cases, with a case rate of 351.6 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 62,248 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 48 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 10,416.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 416 with a case rate of 231.6 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 33,196 new cases. There have been 6,731,423 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.