PUBLIC Health Dorset said the spike of coronavirus cases over the weekend were acquired in the few days leading up to the national lockdown on November 5.

434 cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Dorset in the 24 hours leading up to 4pm on Saturday November 14.

296 of these came in the BCP Council area and 138 in the Dorset Council area, significantly higher than recent totals.

Sam Crowe, director of Public Health Dorset said: “Positive cases of Covid-19 recorded over the last few days includes infections acquired in the days leading up to new national lockdown measures on the 5 November. We will see ups and downs so it’s important to look across more than just one day of data.

“It is slightly too early to tell if the national measures are making an impact on our case numbers but, we will start to see any changes over the next week.

“The current measures are in place to help protect all of us, and anyone can suffer serious illness from this virus. Limiting contact with others will help to stop the spread of the virus and protect the people we love.”