146 further coronavirus cases in Sandwell

The number of coronavirus cases in Sandwell increased by 146 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 55,584 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Sandwell when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on October 28 (Thursday), up from 55,438 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Sandwell now stands at 16,893 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 13,435.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 39,006 over the period, to 8,936,155.

However, there were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Sandwell.

The dashboard shows 1,106 people had died in the area by October 28 (Thursday) – which was unchanged from Wednesday.

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

They were among 14,711 deaths recorded across the West Midlands.

The figures include anyone who died within 28 days of a positive test result for Covid-19, and whose usual residence was in Sandwell.

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death, so some areas might see their figures revised down.

The figures also show that nearly two-thirds of people in Sandwell have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 196,494 people had received both jabs by October 27 (Wednesday) – 63% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 79% of people aged 12 and above had received a second dose of the jab.

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