68 further coronavirus cases in North Somerset

The number of coronavirus cases in North Somerset increased by 68 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 15,831 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in North Somerset when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on August 17 (Tuesday), up from 15,763 on Monday.

The rate of infection in North Somerset now stands at 7,344 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 9,763.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 26,628 over the period, to 6,322,241.

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

The dashboard shows 322 people had died in the area by August 17 (Tuesday) – which was unchanged from Monday.

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

They were among 6,954 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 North Somerset.

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 four in five people in North Somerset have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 147,662 people had received both jabs by August 16 (Monday) – 80% of those aged 18 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 77% of people aged 18 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.