THERE was a further 329 positive Covid cases in the North East and North Yorkshire in the last 24-hours.

The Government said a further 101 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of today (Friday), bringing the UK total to 126,026.

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 148,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.

The Government also said that, as of 9am today, there had been a further 4,802 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.

It brings the total to 4,285,684.

A further 74 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed deaths reported in hospitals to 85,659, NHS England said today.

Patients were aged between 39 and 96 and all except one, aged 78, had known underlying health conditions.

The deaths were between January 5 and March 18, with the majority being on or after March 11.

There were 23 other deaths reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

Here is a breakdown of the number of confirmed Covid cases recorded across the region:

County Durham: 37,029 was 36,989

Darlington: 7,254 was 7,235

Gateshead: 13,474 was 13,457

Hartlepool: 8,627 was 8,618 

Middlesbrough: 12,192 was 12,178

Newcastle: 22,930 was 22,886

North Tyneside: 12,115 was 12,091

North Yorkshire: 28,828 was 28,797

Northumberland: 17,006 was 16,964

Redcar and Cleveland: 9,129 was 9,122

South Tyneside: 11,142 was 11,126

Stockton-on-Tees: 15,308 was 15,281

Sunderland: 21,577 was 21,543

York: 12,099 was 12,094

Total increase: 329