The number of coronavirus cases in Basingstoke and Deane increased by 260 in the last 24 hours that data is available for, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 55,172 cases had been confirmed in Basingstoke and Deane when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on yesterday (April 1), up from 54,912 on Thursday.

From yesterday, 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 Basingstoke and Deane, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 31,037 cases per 100,000 people, 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 was also one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Basingstoke and Deane.

The dashboard shows 343 people had died in the area by yesterday – up from 342 on Thursday.

It means there have been five deaths in the past week, which is the same as 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 Basingstoke and Deane.

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

The figures also show that more than two-thirds of people in Basingstoke and Deane have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 115,053 people had received a booster or third dose by Thursday – 69 per cent of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 139,527 people (84 per cent) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67 per cent 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.

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