The UK has reported 6,874 new cases of COVID-19, a rise of 240 from Thursday, meaning the overall number of confirmed cases is now 423,236.
A further 34 people are reported to have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 – a figure which does not include data from Scotland due to technical issues.
This means the number of people who have died in the UK after contracting the virus is 41,936.
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Despite the number of new cases, the UK is still nowhere near a realistic comparison to the peak of April and May, when Imperial College researchers have suggested there were more than 100,000 new infections a day.
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Meanwhile, the latest full UK figure for hospital daily admissions (as of 16 September) is 266. This is an increase of 62 from the previous week (204 cases) and two weeks before, which had 141 cases.
It comes as the government's advisers estimated the coronavirus 'R number' for the UK to be between 1.2 and 1.5.
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Last week, it was between 1.1 to 1.4 (from 1.0 and 1.2), according to science advisory body SAGE.
It now believes there is "widespread growth of the epidemic across the country", with new infections rising by between 4% and 8% every day.
In England, a further 33 people who tested positive for the virus have died in hospital, meaning the number of confirmed deaths in hospital is 29,871.
Patients were aged between 56 and 93 and all except two, aged 84 and 88, had known underlying health conditions.
The deaths were between 21 April and 24 September and two other deaths were reported with no positive COVID-19 test result.
Over in Wales, a further 320 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total in the country to 22,215.
Public Health Wales said three further deaths had been reported, with the total since the beginning of the pandemic increasing to 1,609.
London also appears set to be added to the national coronavirus watchlist, while four more areas in EnRead More – Source
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