MORE than 1,500 cases of coronavirus and two deaths were recorded over the weekend.

Cases of Covid-19 in Brighton and Hove increased by 1,506, official figures show - with two more deaths from the virus.

A total of 60,053 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Brighton and Hove when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 10 (Monday), up from 58,547 on Friday.

The rate of infection in Brighton and Hove now stands at 20,585 cases per 100,000 people, which remains lower than the England average of 21,875.

  • READ MORE: Covid-19: Health expert urges public to test despite lack of lateral flow tests

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 424,086 over the period, to 14,617,314.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded over the weekend in Brighton and Hove.

The dashboard shows 431 people had died in the area by January 10 (Monday) – up from 429 on Friday.

It means there have been three deaths in the past week, which is the same as the previous week.

They were among 19,310 deaths recorded across the South East.

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

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

Figures reported on a Monday are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths over the weekend.

The news comes after the city's director of public health urged the public to continue testing for the virus, despite a lack of lateral flow tests.

Alistair Hill said case rates in the city are now "the highest they've been".

“You should be testing whenever you are meeting others or going to places that are likely to have high numbers of people or poor ventilation," he said.

Figures also show that more than two-thirds of people in Brighton and Hove have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 201,476 people had received both jabs by January 9 (Sunday) – 70 per cent of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

This remains below the average across England, however, with 83 per cent of people aged 12 and above having 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.

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