COVID-19: UK records highest daily increase in cases and another 691 deaths

The UK has recorded another 36,804 confirmed cases of coronavirus – the highest daily increase since the pandemic began.

It comes after 33,364 cases on Monday and also tops 35,928 on Sunday, which was itself a record.

Another 691 deaths within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test have also been recorded, government data shows – the highest for nearly a month.

Follow live COVID updates from the UK and across the world

That represents a rise from 215 deaths reported on Monday, and more than double Sunday’s figure of 326.

Generally, numbers are lower at the weekend and just after it due to a lag in reporting.

There have now been a total of 2,110,314 coronavirus cases in the UK, and 68,307 related deaths.

But the latter figure rises to 79,349 when taking into account all fatalities with COVID-19 recorded on the death certificate.

The recent surge in cases has been largely blamed on a new and more contagious variant of the virus, known as VUI-202012/01.

Dr Yvonne Doyle, medical director at Public Health England, had described the “sharp and sudden increase” in coronavirus cases on Sunday as a “serious concern”.

Thought to have originated in either London or Kent in September, the new variant is also behind moves to introduce tougher restrictions across most of the UK to prevent it spreading all over the country.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said the rapidly-spreading new variant could be up to 70% more transmissible, but there is no evidence that it is more deadly or leads to more serious infections – and vaccines that have already been approved should work just as effectively.

But Health Secretary Matt Hancock did warn that it was “out of control” on Sunday, and expressed concern about growing pressure on the NHS.

Researchers confirmed on Tuesday that it has spread throughout the UK, with cases found in Wales and Scotland.

The COVID-19 Genomics UK consortium sampled cases across Britain and found the variant in the South West, Midlands and North of England, meaning it is present even in places under Tier 2 and 3 restrictions.

The head of the company rolling out the first coronavirus vaccine in the UK has said “it is highly likely” the Pfizer/BioNTech jab will work on the new variant.

Ugur Sahin said, however, that more tests were needed to confirm its efficacy.

(c) Sky News 2020: COVID-19: UK records highest daily increase in cases and another 691 deaths