The number of coronavirus cases in South Hams increased by 72 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

A total of 19,389 cases had been confirmed in South Hams when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on March 8 (Tuesday), up from 19,317 on Monday.

The cumulative rate of infection in South Hams, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 22,047 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 28,863.

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 61,713 over the period, to 19,307,014.

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

The dashboard shows 89 people had died in the area by March 8 (Tuesday) – up from 87 on Monday.

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

They were among 9,194 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 South Hams.

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

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

The latest figures show 59,026 people had received a booster or third dose by March 7 (Monday) – 72% of those aged 12 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

A total of 69,750 people (85%) 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.