289 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in Sandwell

The number of coronavirus cases in Sandwell increased by 289 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 63,132 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Sandwell when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on December 15 (Wednesday), up from 62,843 on Tuesday.

The rate of infection in Sandwell now stands at 19,187 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 16,523.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 77,741 over the period, to 11,010,286.

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

The dashboard shows 1,131 people had died in the area by December 15 (Wednesday) – up from 1,129 on Tuesday.

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

They were among 15,309 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 two-thirds of people in Sandwell have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 203,491 people had received both jabs by December 14 (Tuesday) – 66% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 81% 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.