A TOTAL of 315 new cases of coronavirus have been recorded across the county in the past 24 hours.

The number of recorded cases in the Dorset Council area increased by 127 and by 188 in the Bournemouth, Christchurch, Poole (BCP) area, official figures show.

A total 4,574 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 by 9am on Wednesday in the Dorset Councl area, up from 4,447 the same time on Tuesday and 9,695 in BCP, up from 9,507.

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.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 50,023 over the period, to 2,432,888.

The cases cases were among the 111,769 recorded across the South West, a figure which rose by 2,217 over the period.

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