298 further coronavirus cases in Croydon

A Coronavirus testing centre in Dalston, east London. There were a further 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of coronavirus in the UK as of 9am on Saturday, taking the overall number to 429,277. A further 34 deaths were recorded.

The number of coronavirus cases in Croydon increased by 298 in the last 24 hours, official figures show.

A total of 120,119 cases had been confirmed in Croydon when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on April 1 (Friday), up from 119,821 on Thursday.

From April 1, free coronavirus testing has ended for millions of people in England with most people now needing to shop on the high street for paid-for tests if they want them.

However, it will continue during April in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and until the summer in Wales.

The cumulative rate of infection in Croydon, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 30,914 cases per 100,000 people, lower than the England average of 31,591.

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 69,449 over the period, to 21,216,874.

The number of coronavirus deaths were revised down in the latest 24-hour period in Croydon.

The dashboard shows 988 people had died in the area by April 1 (Friday) – down from 989 on Thursday.

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

They were among 19,177 deaths recorded across London.

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

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 half of people in Croydon have received a booster dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.

The latest figures show 174,177 people had received a booster or third dose by March 31 (Thursday) – 46% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 248,478 people (65%) had received two jabs by that date.

Across England, 67% 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.