Almost 15,000 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in East Suffolk, latest figures show.

A total of 14,927 people had been confirmed as testing positive for Covid-19 in East Suffolk on Wednesday, September 15, the latest figures available at time of printing, up from 14,809 on Tuesday.

The rate of infection in East Suffolk now stands at 5,962 cases per 100,000 people, far lower than the England average of 11,068.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases increased by 29,873 over the period, to 7,312,683.

However, there were no new coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest 24-hour period available in East Suffolk.

The dashboard shows 523 people had died in the area by September 15 (Wednesday) – which was unchanged from Tuesday.

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

They were among 13,881 deaths recorded across the East of England.

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

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 more than four in five people in East Suffolk have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine, with 93pc of people in Norfolk and Waveney having had at least one jab so far.

The latest figures show 183,394 people had received both jabs by September 14 (Tuesday) – 84pc of those aged 16 and over, based on the number of people on the National Immunisation Management Service database.

Earlier this week, it was revealed text messages had been sent to 40,000 unvaccinated people in Norfolk and Waveney, advising them to get protected.

It comes as part of a drive to increase vaccinations before the onset of winter.

Howard Martin, director at the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "We are determined to do all we can to protect as many people as possible from serious illness and hospitalisation.”

Across England, 81pc of people aged 16 and above had received a second dose of the jab.

Unlike at local level, the national rate was calculated using mid-2020 population estimates from the Office for National Statistics.