85 further coronavirus cases in Boston

A Coronavirus testing centre in Dalston, east London. There were a further 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, taking the overall number to 429,277. A further 34 deaths were recorded.

The number of coronavirus cases in Boston increased by 85 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 20,150 cases had been confirmed in Boston when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 1 (Friday), up from 20,065 on Thursday.

From April 1, free coronavirus testing has ended for millions of people in England with most people now needing to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

However, it will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and until the summer in Wales.

The cumulative rate of infection in Boston, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 28,446 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 31,591.

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 69,449 over the period, to 21,216,874.

The number of coronavirus deaths were revised down in the latest 24-hour period in Boston.

The dashboard shows 227 people had died in the area by April 1 (Friday) – down from 228 on Thursday.

It means there has been one death in the past week, which is an increase on none the previous week.

They were among 13,149 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 more than half of people in Boston have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 37,045 people had received a booster or third dose by March 31 (Thursday) – 52% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 47,745 people (67%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67% 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.