MORE than 500 new coronavirus cases have been recorded across Dorset within the last 24-hour period, according to the latest statistics.

The latest Government figures show 501 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the county in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Thursday, July 29.

In the Dorset Council area, 165 new cases were reported. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 15,923 cases confirmed across this area.

The rolling seven-day period for the Dorset Council area is 969 cases, with a case rate of 256 per 100,000 people.

There has been a total of 336 new cases recorded across the BCP Council, taking the total number of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic to 33,559.

The rolling seven-day period for the BCP is 1,843 cases, with a case rate of 466.2 per 100,000 people.

During the course of the coronavirus pandemic, there have been 48,482 cases of Covid-19 confirmed across Dorset.

Elsewhere, the New Forest area recorded 61 new coronavirus cases. The total number of cases since the start of the pandemic stands within the New Forest at 8,350.

The seven-day total for New Forest is 473 with a case rate of 262.7 per 100,000 people.

Across the UK, there has been a total of 31,117 new cases. There have been 5,801,561 confirmed cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic.