Covid: UK records highest daily increase in cases since start of pandemic

A total of 691 deaths were reported on Tuesday

The UK has recorded its highest daily surge in confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the pandemic, while almost 700 new deaths have been reported, new figures show.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said there had been 36,804 infections recorded across the UK in the 24 hours up to 9am on Tuesday , bringing the nationwide total to 2,110, 314.

The daily figure tops the previous record of 35,928, set on Sunday.

A further 691 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, the DHSC said, to give a UK total of 68,307.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have now been 84,000 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

There are 18,943 people currently in hospital with Covid-19, while 1,875 more patients have been admitted over the latest 24-hour period, the DHSC said.

Prior to the announcement of Tuesday’s figures, the Office for National Statistics said the number of coronavirus deaths registered in England and Wales had fallen for a second week running.

There were 2,756 deaths in the week ending 11 December mentioning "novel coronavirus" on the death certificate, the ONS said.

This is 79 fewer deaths than were registered during the previous week, or a 2.8 per cent fall, with Covid-19 accounting for 22.4 per cent of all deaths.

The previous week saw weekly registered deaths involving Covid-19 fall for the first time in three months, as the four-week national lockdown was lifted.

Overall, 1,542 more deaths were registered during the week ending 11 December compared to the average for this period over the past five years.

The number of deaths in hospitals, care homes and private homes remained above the five-year average, while all English regions and Wales had a higher number of deaths than the five-year average for the fifth week in a row.

The number of deaths involving Covid-19 decreased in Wales and all English regions except the East Midlands, the East of England and the south-east of England.

The North West continued to experience the largest number of deaths involving Covid-19 (426) despite a fall from the previous week.

The highest proportion of deaths involving Covid-19 was seen in Yorkshire and the Humber.

While deaths involving coronavirus in care homes and hospitals fell slightly, they rose in private homes.