THE number of coronavirus cases in Brighton and Hove increased by 405 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and three more deaths were recorded.

A total of 88,500 cases had been confirmed in Brighton and Hove when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 22 (Tuesday), up from 88,095 on Monday.

It comes as the country marks two years since the introduction of the first national lockdown on March 23, 2020.

The cumulative rate of infection in Brighton and Hove, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 30,335 cases per 100,000 people, lower than the England average of 30,401.

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 94,297 over the period, to 20,413,731.

There were also three more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Brighton and Hove.

The dashboard shows 470 people had died in the area by March 22 (Tuesday) – up from 467 on Monday.

It means there have been six deaths in the past week.

They were among 20,988 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.

The figures also show that more than half of people in Brighton and Hove have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 160,282 people had received a booster or third dose by March 21 (Monday) – 55% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 208,600 people (72 per cent) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67 per cent 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.