Nearly 22,000 in Sunderland have had COVID

As restriction lockdown measures ease, figures from Public Health England (PHE) show that a total of 21,968 people have had the virus as of 9am on Monday April 12.

PHE say it has changed the way it recorded the figures from Friday – which has resulted in the removal of more than 8,000 cases from the national running total.

In Sunderland this meant the figure on Monday was 15 higher than on Thursday.

The new recording method means that cases which are identified through a positive lateral flow test – those which can deliver results within half an hour – will no longer be counted if the person then goes on to take a PCR test, which is sent to a lab to be checked, and receives a negative result within three days.

This change in methodology saw 8,010 cases stripped from the UK cumulative total at the end of last week.

Overall, the rate of infection in Sunderland now stands at 7,917 cases per 100,000 people – which is higher than the England average of 6,791.

Across the UK, the number of recorded cases was 3,022 higher than on Thursday, with the total now standing at 4,373,343.

Sunderland's coronavirus cases were among a total of 191,596 recorded across the North East – a figure which rose by 145 with the methodology change.

Cumulative case counts include patients who are currently unwell, have been recovered and those that have died.