A TOTAL of 15 people tested positive for coronavirus across Dorset in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

All of the cases were rerecorded in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole Council area (BCP). No one tested positive in the Dorset Council area.

Public Health England figures show that 726 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Thursday in Dorset, in line with the same time on Wednesday.

1,055 people had been confirmed as testing positive in the BCP area, up from 1,040 the same time on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Dorset stands at 192 cases per 100,000 people and 267 in the BCP area, far lower than the England average of 585.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 3,395 over the period, to 381,614.

Dorset's cases were among the 16,116 recorded across the South West, a figure which rose by 85 over the period.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have recovered and those that have died.

The health body is now including Pillar 2 tests – those carried out by commercial partners – alongside Pillar 1 tests, which are analysed in NHS or PHE laboratories and which made up the first stage of the Government's mass testing programme.