171 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in Sandwell

The number of coronavirus cases in Sandwell increased by 171 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 44,482 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Sandwell when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on August 19 (Thursday), up from 44,311 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Sandwell now stands at 13,519 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 9,866.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 36,273 over the period, to 6,392,160.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Sandwell.

The dashboard shows 1,031 people had died in the area by August 19 (Thursday) – up from 1,029 on Wednesday.

It means there have been seven deaths in the past week, which is an increase on two the previous week.

They were among 13,861 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.

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 172,794 people had received both jabs by August 18 (Wednesday) – 62% of those aged 18 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 75% of people aged 16 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.