The number of coronavirus cases in Herefordshire increased by 261 over the weekend, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 42,213 cases had been confirmed in Herefordshire when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on February 21 (Monday), up from 41,952 on Friday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Herefordshire, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 21,803 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 28,096.

Since January 31, the UK Health Security Agency has changed the way it reports coronavirus cases.

It means if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 108,367 over the period, to 18,654,572.

People with a positive lateral flow test no longer need to take a follow-up PCR test to confirm the result unless they have coronavirus symptoms.

UK case numbers now include LFT results for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

There was also one more coronavirus death recorded over the weekend in Herefordshire.

The dashboard shows 349 people had died in the area by February 21 (Monday) – up from 348 on Friday.

It means there have been two deaths in the past week, which is the same as the previous week.

They were among 16,673 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 Herefordshire.

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

Figures reported on a Monday are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths over the weekend.

The figures also show that more than four in five people in Herefordshire have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 146,623 people had received both jabs by February 20 (Sunday) – 84% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 85% 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.