The number of coronavirus cases in Bristol increased by 1,249 over the weekend, official figures show – and four more deaths were recorded.

A total of 66,914 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Bristol when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on October 25 (Monday), up from 65,665 on Friday.

The rate of infection in Bristol now stands at 14,363 cases per 100,000 people, higher than the England average of 13,254.

In South Gloucestershire the rate is 12,349 per 100,000, in Bath and North East Somerset it is 11,722 per 100,000 and in North Somerset it is 11,092 per 100,000.

There were also four more coronavirus deaths recorded over the weekend in Bristol.

Yesterday (October 25), the West of England’s metro mayor, Dan Norris, launched a campaign urging people to start wearing masks again in public places in response to the rise in cases.

He described the situation as a ‘looming crisis’.

He said: “I urge everyone who can to please wear a mask. Get vaccinated. Wash your hands. Doing this is the best possible gift we can give our NHS this Christmas.”

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 119,825 over the period, to 8,809,774.

The figure does not include cases reported in Wales on Monday, due to a technical issue at Public Health Wales.

The dashboard shows 553 people had died in Bristol by October 25 (Monday) – up from 549 on Friday.

It means there have been 10 deaths in the past week, which is an increase on three the previous week.

They were among 7,556 deaths recorded across the South West.

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

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

Figures reported on a Monday are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths over the weekend.

The figures also show that two-thirds of people in Bristol have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 311,447 people had received both jabs by October 24 (Sunday) – 68 per cent of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 79 per cent 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.

Covid-19: Bristol records highest daily infection rate in region after more than 1,200 new cases over weekend