HUNDREDS more people in Oxfordshire have tested positive for Covid-19 in just 24 hours as the number of cases in the county since the pandemic started has reached nearly 40,000.

Official Government figures show that as of 4pm on Sunday, a further 240 new coronavirus cases were registered in the county with nearly a third of the new cases in Oxford.

Coincidentally, this is the same number of cases registered in the county on Sunday last week.

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These are the daily cases separated by local authorities:

Oxford – 73

South Oxfordshire – 41

Cherwell – 43

West Oxfordshire – 51

Vale of White Horse – 32

The total number of coronavirus cases since the pandemic started are:

Oxford – 11,881

Oxfordshire – 39,754

Currently, there are a dozen patients with the virus admitted in Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, with one patient on ventilation.

The UK has recorded a further 26 Covid-related deaths and 31,772 new cases with 563 patients admitted to hospital, Public Health England confirmed.

Cases 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 takes a PCR test, which is sent to a lab to be checked, and receives a negative result within three days.