The number of coronavirus cases in Herefordshire increased by 609 over the weekend, official figures show.

A total of 44,953 cases had been confirmed in Herefordshire when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 14 (Monday), up from 44,344 on Friday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Herefordshire, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 23,218 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 29,434.

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 170,467 over the period, to 19,700,952 – though figures for Scotland were not included due to a technical issue.

There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded over the weekend in Herefordshire.

The dashboard shows 350 people had died in the area by March 14 (Monday) – which was unchanged from Friday.

It means there have been no deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on one the previous week.

They were among 16,880 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, so some areas might see their figures revised down.

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 nearly three-quarters of people in Herefordshire have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 123,412 people had received a booster or third dose by March 13 (Sunday) – 71% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 147,171 people (84%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 66% 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.