THE number of coronavirus cases in Dudley increased by 720 in the last 24 hours, official figures show – and one more death was recorded.

A total of 75,783 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in Dudley when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on January 11 (Tuesday), up from 75,063 on Monday.

The rate of infection in Dudley now stands at 23,509 cases per 100,000 people, higher 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 was also one more coronavirus death recorded in the latest 24-hour period in Dudley.

The dashboard shows 893 people had died in the area by January 11 (Tuesday) – up from 892 on Monday.

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

They were among 15,660 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 Dudley.