CONFIRMED cases of coronavirus in Northumberland increased by two on Friday.

The latest figures from Public Health England show the number of lab-confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the county increased from 1,042 on Thursday to 1,044 on Friday. 

NHS England confirmed there have been two further deaths in Northumbria Healthcare Trust hospitals this week meaning 198 people have died after contracting the virus. 

Nationally, total number of lab-confirmed UK cases stands at 292,950 while there have been 41,481 Covid-19 associated deaths in the UK. 

Overall, a total of 6,434,713 tests have been carried out and 292,950 cases have been confirmed positive.

North-East England had the highest coronavirus mortality rate of all regions in England during May, according to ONS figures, while London recorded one of the lowest.

• The figure for the number of people tested has been "temporarily paused to ensure consistent reporting" across all methods of testing.

• The reproduction number, referred to as R, of coronavirus across the UK remains between 0.7 and 0.9, while across England it is 0.8-1.0.

• Health minister Edward Argar has said one third of people who tested positive for coronavirus and were transferred to the NHS Test and Trace app were not successfully contacted because they "simply didn't feel like answering the phone".

• In the first week of the app being in use, 8,117 people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England had their case transferred to the NHS system. Of these, 5,407 (67 per cent) were reached, while 2,710 (33 per cent) did not provide information about their contacts or could not be reached.