Britain's coronavirus hospital death toll has increased by nine to 34,180, with all but two of the deaths occurring in England.
NHS England reported seven new deaths on Thursday, while Northern Ireland and Wales each recorded one.
There were no new deaths in Scotland in the last 24 hours.
On recent Thursdays, the toll climbed by five on August 20, 13 on August 13, eight on August 6 and 14 on July 30. The highest increase on a Thursday was 891 on April 9 when the UK was in the deadliest days of its outbreak.
The hospital deaths were announced as worrying new data shows the seven-day rate of cases per 100,000 people has increased in 17 areas of England in the last week.
Those figures were released as a separate testing data found the number of weekly coronavirus cases in England fell for the first time in six weeks.
NHS England announced seven new deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities in hospitals in England to 29,531.
The patients were between 77 and 90 years old and all had known underlying health conditions.
Four died in the North West, two in London and one in the North East and Yorkshire region.
No new coronavirus deaths have been reported in Scotland in the last 24 hours, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said.
A total of 2,494 patients have died in Scotland after testing positive for coronavirus.
Speaking during the Scottish Government's daily briefing, the First Minister said 20,056 people have tested positive for the virus in Scotland, up by 68 from 19,988 the day before.
Some nine of these new cases are in the Grampian health board area, 21 in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, eight in Lanarkshire and 15 in Tayside.
There are 257 people in hospital with confirmed or suspected Covid-19, an increase of eight in 24 hours.
Of these patients, two were in intensive care, no change from the previous day.
Ms Sturgeon told reporters the Scottish Government is "not trying to police your social life" as she stressed new coronavirus powers will only be used as a last resort.
On Friday, police will be given new powers to break up house parties involving more than 15 people from more than one household.
Wales' death toll increased by one to 1,595, as it also reported 35 new confirmed cases, taking its total to 17,843 since the outbreak began.
Northern Ireland said one additional death had occurred. Its toll now stands at 560.
The number of confirmed cases in Northern Ireland increased by 69 to 6,964.
In other developments:
- The Government's messaging on local coronavirus restrictions has been "confused and bungled", council leaders in West Yorkshire have said.
- Liverpool City Council has appealed to adults under 40 to follow social distancing guidelines following a rise in cases across the city.
- Three-quarters of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 were reached through the NHS Test and Trace system, once again falling short of the Government's target, the latest figures show.
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said he has "absolutely no idea" how many people in his department are currently working from home.
- Mr Hancock defended the level of compensation payments for people who have to self-isolate, but Pendle Borough Council leader Mohammed Iqbal, who represents one of the pilot areas, has branded them "a slap in the face".
- Police have issued fewer than than 40 fines to people for not wearing an appropriate face covering on public transport, despite previous claims from the Transport Secretary that one-in-10 passengers were breaking the rules.
- The number of people arriving in the UK by air in July was 89% lower than during the same month last year amid lockdowns and travel restrictions around the world.
