THERE have been 1,029 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Northumberland as of Wednesday, Public Health England confirmed.

The data from the health authority shows an increase of six confirmed cases from 1,023 on Tuesday to 1,029.

NHS England said there have been no further Covid-19 related deaths at Northumbria Healthcare Trust hospitals with the figure at 191.

Some 135,643 coronavirus tests were carried out in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday - including 30,357 antibody tests, Downing Street has said. The Government was again unable to provide figures for the number of people tested due to an issue with reporting across the different testing strands. "As soon as that is resolved they will go back to giving you a figure for the number of people tested each day," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisted he was "very proud" of the Government's record despite the grim milestone on Covid-related deaths and his admission that large-scale redundancies were "inevitable".

Mr Johnson also suggested he wants to reduce the two-metre social distancing rule despite his chief medical adviser warning the restriction will continue for the duration of the coronavirus pandemic.