The number of coronavirus cases in Swindon increased by 290 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 45,731 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Swindon when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 11 (Tuesday), up from 45,441 on Monday.

The rate of infection in Swindon now stands at 20,518 cases per 100,000 people, lower than the England average of 22,051.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 115,280 over the period, to 14,732,594.

Changes to testing rules mean that from January 6 in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and January 11 in England, people with a positive lateral flow test need to report their result and self-isolate, but do not need to take a confirmatory PCR test unless they develop symptoms.

Cases identified through a rapid lateral flow test are currently only included in case counts for England and Northern Ireland.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Swindon.

The dashboard shows 332 people had died in the area by January 11 (Tuesday) – up from 330 on Monday.

It means there have been eight deaths in the past week, which is an increase on one the previous week.

They were among 8,416 deaths recorded across the South West.

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

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

The figures also show that four in five people in Swindon have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 164,089 people had received both jabs by January 10 (Monday) – 79% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Across England, 83% of people aged 12 and above had received a second dose of the jab.