The number of confirmed new positive cases of coronavirus in the Dorset area continues to drop, but seven people have died.

In the seven days from November 1 to 7, there were 365 cases in the Dorset Council area, compared to 390 from October 25 to 31.

This brings Dorset's case rate to 96.4 per 100,000 of the population, down from 103 per 100,000 per population for the previous seven days.

This is compared to 848 confirmed new positive cases of coronavirus in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area over the same seven-day period, bringing its case rate up to 214.5 per 100,000 of the population. The case rate for the south west is currently 166 and 246.9 for England.

Since November 3 up until November 10, there have been seven covid-related deaths in Dorset, bringing the total to 121.

The number of patients with Covid-19 in hospital beds in Dorset has been rising over the past few weeks.

As of November 11, there were 126 Covid-19 patients in hospital beds in Dorset. This is in comparison to 113 patients on November 4.

A spokesman for Public Health Dorset said: "New national restrictions to reduce the spread of Covid-19 have been in place for a week. It will take a couple of weeks for us to understand the potential impact of these restrictions on our local situation.

"We need Dorset residents to play their part in bringing cases down. This will put us in the best possible place to return to fewer restrictions after national measures end."