Coronavirus: Derbyshire cases up more than 20 per cent in 24 hours

The latest rise of 31 since Thursday takes the total number of confirmed cases in the county to 170.

Public Health England (PHE) published the latest official figure for Derbyshire on Friday as part of their daily breakdown of confirmed cases in each area.

The county has the seventeenth highest number of confirmed cases by upper tier local authority area in the country. Nearby Sheffield has the fourth highest number of confirmed cases in England, with 286.

The cases are based on the residential postcode of each patient, rather than where they are being treated, a spokesperson for PHE confirmed.

A spokesperson for PHE said the actual number of people who have tested positive for coronavirus is likely to be “much higher” than official figures show in every area.

This is because as the UK is now in the ‘delay’ phase of dealing with the outbreak, only people in hospitals – where the risk of contagion is higher and the impact more serious – are being tested Covid-19.

Nationally, as of 9am today (27 March), 14,543 people in the UK have tested positive for Covid-19. The highest number of confirmed cases is in London where there are a total of 4,637 confirmed cases.

As of 5pm on Thursday (26 March), 759 patients in the UK who tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) have died.