A FURTHER 695 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the North-East and North Yorkshire.

The Government said that, as of 9am on Friday, there have been a further 16,298 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK.

It brings the total number of cases in the UK to 1,690,432.

Breakdown of cases: County Durham: 19,786 was 19,655; Darlington: 3,500 was 3,473; Gateshead: 7,918 was 7,895; Hartlepool: 4,094 was 4,058; Middlesbrough: 5,784 was 5,752; Newcastle: 15,997 was 15,947; North Tyneside:
7,020 was 6,991; North Yorkshire: 13,775 was 13,693; Northumberland: 8,860 was 8,787; Redcar and Cleveland: 4,667 was 4,641; South Tyneside: 5,990 was 5,942; Stockton: 7,811 was 7,773; Sunderland: 11,371 was 11,298; York: 5,737 was 5,710.

A further 504 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Friday, bringing the UK total to 60,617.

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 76,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.