THE number of coronavirus cases in Blackburn with Darwen increased by 248 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 39,454 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 5 (Wednesday), up from 39,206 on Tuesday.

The rate of infection in Blackburn with Darwen now stands at 26,297 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 20,701.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 193,814 over the period, to 13,835,334.

There was also one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Blackburn with Darwen.

The dashboard shows 475 people had died in the area by January 5 (Wednesday) – up from 474 on Tuesday.

It means there have been three deaths in the past week, which is an increase on none the previous week.

They were among 20,956 deaths recorded across the North West.

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

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

Today’s death figures include a backlog of hospital deaths reported overnight by NHS England, covering the period January 1 to 4.

Due to a delay in reporting, vaccine data for local authorities in England is not available today.