Covid deaths have risen 147 with 37,622 more cases amid firebreak lockdown fears.

Deaths are now up 18% over the last seven days .

It comes as figures released this week also show more than 150 NHS trusts in England have seen a rise in Covid patients in hospital since Freedom Day, as the government reportedly weighs up a fresh lockdown.

Analysis by The Mirror reveals that since July 19, when coronavirus restrictions were lifted, 154 trusts recorded an increase in the number of beds taken by people with the virus.

Hospitals in Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, London and Leicester are among those to have seen the sharpest rises.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics today show Covid cases remain high across the UK as 1 in 70 people are testing positive in England.

A weekly survey from the Office of National Statistics estimates around 754,600 people in England had coronavirus, which has not changed since the week to August 20.

At the peak of the second wave in early January, around 1 in 50 people in England had coronavirus.

In Scotland, covid cases have really surged to around 1 in 45 people, which equates to around 117,300 people.

Cases in the nation have more than doubled from the previous week, when cases were estimated to be around 1 in 140 people.

It comes after the director of the Oxford vaccine group said the UK is not currently seeing any major lapse in the protection offered by Covid-19 vaccines.

Professor Sir Andrew Pollard, whose team developed the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, said he believes the priority should be to donate vaccines to countries where people are still awaiting a first dose.