THE first cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Dorset.

Two people have tested positive in the county, according to Public Health England.

The number of cases is broken down by local authority area and Public Health England say there are two confirmed cases in the Bournemouth-Christchurch-Poole (BCP) Council area.

A gym in Poole has since closed after one of its members was diagnosed with the disease.

No further information was given on the cases or where they were being treated.

There are no confirmed cases in the Dorset Council area, as of yesterday morning.

More than 270 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in the UK.

As of 9am on Sunday, 273 people had been diagnosed with Covid-19 - an increase of 67 from the 206 cases confirmed on Saturday.

There are 35 confirmed cases in the south west.

More than 23,500 people have been tested for the virus in the UK, with two patients with Covid-19 having died.

Calls to the NHS 111 service have increased by more than a third compared to the same period last year, with 120,000 extra calls in the first week of March, the department said.

Five hundred additional initial call responders have been trained to handle the higher demand.

The latest figures were published as Health Secretary Matt Hancock said a “national effort” is required to tackle the outbreak.

Mr Hancock has set out plans contained in emergency legislation to deal with the impact of the virus.

The Bill, which is likely to go through Parliament by the end of the month, is expected to include measures to allow some court proceedings to be conducted via telephone or video.

Volunteers will be given additional employment safeguards, allowing them to leave their main jobs and temporarily help health and social systems in the event of a widespread pandemic.

Mr Hancock said: "We will do all we can to contain coronavirus, but as we know, Covid-19 is spreading across the world, so I want to ensure Government is doing everything in its power to be ready to delay and mitigate this threat.

"Public safety is my top priority.

"Responding to coronavirus is a massive national effort and I'm working with colleagues across government to ensure we have a proportionate emergency bill, with the right measures to deal with the impacts of a widespread Covid-19 outbreak.