Well over 4,500 new cases of coronavirus are thought to be linked to the Boardmasters festival in Cornwall so far - and it is possible this figure may rise.

This was the message from Cornwall's health chiefs when they took part in an online briefing earlier today about the current situation relating to Covid-19 cases in the Duchy.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of the questions put to the leaders related to whether thousands of people gathering for the Boardmasters festival in Newquay had any effect on figures.

Ruth Goldestein, a Public Health England consultant, said her team had been monitoring it "very closely" and it was still too early to say regarding the full numbers.

However, she said: "This was a situation we've been monitoring very closely and we won't know the complete picture of the cases linked to Boardmasters for another few days but, at the moment, there about 4,700 cases which could be linked to Boardmasters.

"These are people who have noted on their PCR test that they have been associated to to Boardmasters."

When asked whether Cornwall Council had any regrets about allowing Boardmasters to go ahead, Cllr Andrew Virr, cabinet member for adults and public health. who is also a GP, said: "Being a responsible council, we needed to asses whether the festival was going to be safe and whether there were any measures we could put in place to raise that safety level or whether or not it reached the criteria for cancelling.

"That would have obviously been a very big decision for attendees and the event organisers.

"We were expecting there to be cases that were picked up from the festival, and we are very reassured that, although the infections are troublesome and have an impact on people's families and business it's not thankfully threatening to turn into a serious, life-threatening illness.

"There are no perfect answers in this, and one has to make very careful judgments, and we were very mindful of the benefits of the festival as well.

"I think at the moment, there are no regrets, as we were expecting to have this wash-up to deal with."

And continuing on the subject, the panel was asked: "Was Boardmasters adding to the 'ping-demic' more important than Cornwall's economy, as hospitality was affected again by young people being off?"

In reply, Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Cornwall, said: "I'd just keep reiterating my call for as many people to get vaccinated as soon as possible.

"Also just to keep those Hands, Face, Space procedures going, I know it's boring, but just keep that going.

"And masks still do work, you might not have to but it would be good to use them."

Read more details from the briefing here: Cornwall Council holds briefing on Covid-19 situation in Cornwall