The number of coronavirus cases in Shropshire increased by 201 in the 24 hours to Friday, official figures show.

A total of 79,755 cases had been confirmed in Shropshire when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 4 (Friday), up from 79,554 on Thursday.

The cumulative rate of infection in Shropshire, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 24,509 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 28,616.

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 44,485 over the period, to 19,119,181.

There were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Shropshire.

The dashboard shows 725 people had died in the area by March 4 (Friday) – which was unchanged from Thursday.

It means there has been one death in the past week, which is a decrease on three the previous week.

They were among 16,800 deaths recorded across the West Midlands.

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

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death, so some areas might see their figures revised down.

The figures also show that nearly three-quarters of people in Shropshire have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 211,637 people had received a booster or third dose by March 3 (Thursday) – 72% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 251,910 people (86%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 66% 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.

Around 11,000 historical vaccinations carried out across England in 2021 have been included in today's figures.

They were previously uncounted due to a technical issue, the UKHSA said.