137 further coronavirus cases in Boston

The number of coronavirus cases in Boston increased by 137 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 12,941 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Boston when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 4 (Tuesday), up from 12,804 on Monday.

The rate of infection in Boston now stands at 18,269 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 20,437.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 218,705 over the period, to 13,641,520 – though the number of newly-reported cases for Northern Ireland covers a four-day period, and for Wales a two-day period.

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

The dashboard shows 201 people had died in the area by January 4 (Tuesday) – which was unchanged from Monday.

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

They were among 11,832 deaths recorded across the East Midlands.

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

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 nearly two-thirds of people in Boston have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 46,081 people had received both jabs by January 3 (Monday) – 64% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 82% 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.