The latest Covid-19 case information for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly has now been published.

As of 4pm today (Wednesday, December 30) there have been 256 new cases recorded since yesterday afternoon, after 261 being recorded on Monday and 197 on Tuesday.

The total number of cases in the local authority area since the start of the pandemic is now 5,644.

There were 554 cases recorded in the seven days leading up to December 24. Data from the most recent five days is not shown due to being incomplete.

This represents a weekly rate of 96.9 cases per 100,000 people.

The UK had 50,023 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 2,432,888 nationally since the start of the pandemic.

There has been no further rise in hospital deaths in Cornwall involving patients who tested positive for coronavirus, with the last being reported on Boxing Day.

This was recorded at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust on Tuesday last week (December 22) and published in figures by NHS England four days later.

It followed three deaths at the Trust the previous weekend and another death at the Cornwall Partnerships NHS Trust, again over the weekend.

There have now been 79 deaths registered to the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust and 27 to the Cornwall Partnerships NHS Trust, bringing the overall total number of hospital deaths in Cornwall to 106.

Nationally, a further 494 people, who tested positive for Covid-19 have died in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 49,719.

Patients were aged between 30 and 100 years old. All except 20 – aged 36 to 92 years old – had known underlying health conditions, and their families have been informed.

The dates of their deaths ranged from November 9 to December 29.

Of these, 32 deaths were reported in the south west.

The government has given a warning about the information during the holiday period.

It states that UK cases and deaths will be updated every day throughout the holiday period, but with no data for Northern Ireland on December 24 to 28, no data over deaths on Scotland on December 25 to 28 and January 1 and 4, and no data for Wales on December 25 and January 1.

It warns: "UK totals for each day will reflect the sum of the nations which reported data. Cases and deaths that would have been reported during these periods are likely to instead be reported on the following days.

"As a result, any changes to published data should be interpreted with caution during this period, as they may be a result of changes to reporting schedules."

In other coronavirus-related news:

Cornwall is to move into Tier 3 restrictions as of New Year's Eve.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced in the House of Commons greater restrictions for almost all parts of the country, saying almost all of the country will soon be in either Tier 3 or 4.

Read the full story. 

The approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine has been hailed as a “game-changer” in the battle against coronavirus.

One of the biggest benefits of this vaccine is that it does not need to be stored at very cold temperatures, like the Pfizer jab - which would make "an enormous difference" according to one expert.

Read the full story here.

Rapidly rising cases of Covid-19 in Cornwall have sparked concern from the director of public health and the council.

It comes as the nation prepares to hear the outcome of the latest tier review by the Government, which is due to take place today.

Read the full story here.