MORE than 200 new coronavirus cases have been revealed to have been recorded in Essex after Public Health England announced it had not identified nearly 16,000 cases nationwide in the last week because of a technical issue.

Figures show that there have now been 7,361 positive tests in the Essex County Council jurisdiction after new figures were released by the Government on Sunday night - an increase of 194.

The rate of infection in Essex now stands at 494 cases per 100,000 people, still far lower than the England average of 765

There were also 17 new cases in Southend and 26 more in Thurrock - making 231 in total in the county.

The Essex cases include a dozen more cases in Colchester and seven in Tendring.

Overall, figures released on Saturday showed there had been 22,961 new cases in the UK- more than ever before in a single day.

A Government spokesman said: "An issue was identified overnight on Friday October 2 in the automated process that transfers positive cases data to Public Health England.

"It has now been resolved.

"The cases by publish date for October 3 and 4 include 15,841 additional cases with specimen dates between September 25 and October 2 — they are therefore artificially high for England and the UK."