The number of coronavirus cases in Blackburn with Darwen increased by 687 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 40,141 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Blackburn with Darwen when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 6 (Thursday), up from 39,454 on Wednesday.

The rate of infection in Blackburn with Darwen now stands at 26,755 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the England average of 20,971.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 179,731 over the period, to 14,015,065.

However, there were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Blackburn with Darwen.

The dashboard shows 475 people had died in the area by January 6 (Thursday) – which was unchanged from Wednesday.

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

They were among 21,005 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, so some areas might see their figures revised down.

The figures also show that more than two-thirds of people in Blackburn with Darwen have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 96,150 people had received both jabs by January 5 (Wednesday) – 69% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 83% 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.