144 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in Chichester

A Coronavirus testing centre in Dalston, east London. There were a further 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, taking the overall number to 429,277. A further 34 deaths were recorded.

The number of coronavirus cases in Chichester increased by 144 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 33,590 cases had been confirmed in Chichester when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 1 (Friday), up from 33,446 on Thursday.

From April 1, free coronavirus testing has ended for millions of people in England with most people now needing to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

However, it will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and until the summer in Wales.

The cumulative rate of infection in Chichester, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 27,644 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 31,591.

In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 69,449 over the period, to 21,216,874.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Chichester.

The dashboard shows 310 people had died in the area by April 1 (Friday) – up from 308 on Thursday.

It means there have been four deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on five the previous week.

They were among 21,176 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 Chichester.

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

The figures also show that three-quarters of people in Chichester have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 84,627 people had received a booster or third dose by March 31 (Thursday) – 73% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 99,051 people (85%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67% of people aged 12 and above had received a booster.

Unlike at local level, the national rate was calculated using mid-2020 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.