315 further coronavirus cases and two more deaths recorded in North Lanarkshire

The number of coronavirus cases in North Lanarkshire increased by 315 over the bank holiday weekend which saw the end of all Covid-19 restrictions, official figures show – and two more deaths were recorded.

The end of mass testing from April 30 means the figures are not an accurate reflection of the number of people with Covid.

A total of 140,046 cases had been confirmed in North Lanarkshire when the UK coronavirus daily dashboard was updated on May 3 (Tuesday), up from 139,731 on Friday.

The cumulative rate of infection in North Lanarkshire, which covers the whole pandemic, stands at 41,052 cases per 100,000 people, far higher than the Scotland average of 35,265.

In England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, if one person tests positive for the virus more than 90 days after the first infection, two infection episodes will be recorded, according to the UK Health Security Agency.

Coronavirus restrictions were eased further over the weekend – with self-isolation requirements scrapped, those with symptoms no longer needing to take a PCR test and mass testing coming to an end.

There were also two more coronavirus deaths recorded in the latest four-day period in North Lanarkshire.

The dashboard shows 1,023 people had died in the area by May 3 (Tuesday) – up from 1,021 on Friday.

It means there have been six deaths in the past week, which is a decrease on 16 the previous week.

They were among 12,088 deaths recorded across Scotland.

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

Daily death counts are revised each day, with each case backdated to the actual date of death.

Figures reported after a weekend are likely to be lower as a result of a lag in reporting deaths.