275 further coronavirus cases in Mid Sussex, official figures show

A total of 37,774 cases had been confirmed in Mid Sussex when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on February 3 (Thursday), up from 37,499 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Mid Sussex now stands at 24,828 cases per 100,000 people, lower than the England average of 26,713.

Since January 31, the UK Health Security Agency has changed the way it reports coronavirus cases.

It means if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 88,124 over the period, to 17,607,832.

People with a positive lateral flow test no longer need to take a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they have coronavirus symptoms.

UK case numbers currently only include LFT results for England and Northern Ireland, with lateral flow testing data for Scotland due to be added in the coming weeks.

The number of coronavirus deaths were revised down in the latest 24-hour period in Mid Sussex.

The dashboard shows 300 people had died in the area by February 3 (Thursday) – down from 301 on Wednesday.

They were among 20,111 deaths recorded across the South East.

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

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 four in five people in Mid Sussex have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 114,567 people had received both jabs by February 2 (Wednesday) – 84% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 84% 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.