Covid deaths in England and Wales have risen by 68 per cent on the previous week - to the highest total since April.
Official data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that 183 fatalities were recorded in the seven days up to July 9.
It is the highest total since 205 deaths in the week to April 30.
A total of 154,334 deaths have now occurred in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, the ONS said.
The highest number of deaths to occur on a single day was 1,483 on January 19.
During the first wave of the virus, the daily toll peaked at 1,461 deaths on April 8, 2020.
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The figures come as part of the latest report from the ONS.
It also said that some 20 care home resident deaths involving Covid-19 in England and Wales were registered in the week to July 9.
This is up from 11 deaths in the previous week.
In total, 42,587 care home residents in England and Wales have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began.
The latest data comes the day after England celebrated 'Freedom Day', which saw the majority of social distancing laws relaxed.
Table service has been abolished in pubs, with nightclubs allowed to reopen and the wearing of masks now a personal choice in many settings.
But the Government is already facing a backlash over its decision to implement vaccine passports on large venues from September.
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Clubs, backbench Tories and opposition MPs criticised Boris Johnson's announcement on Monday - the day that clubs in England were allowed to open for the first time since March last year.
Night Time Industries Association chief executive Michael Kill accused the Government of "an absolute shambles".
"So, 'freedom day' for nightclubs lasted around 17 hours then," he said.
"80% of nightclubs have said they do not want to implement Covid passports, worrying about difficulties with enforcing the system and a reduction in spontaneous consumers, as well as being put at a competitive disadvantage with pubs and bars that aren't subject to the same restrictions and yet provide similar environments."
Mark Harper, the Conservative former chief whip who chairs the Covid Recovery Group of Tory lockdown-sceptics, criticised the plans as "effectively moving to compulsory vaccination".
Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, questioned why the Government was delaying the plans until the autumn.
Labour's shadow health minister Justin Madders said: "How can it be safe to go to nightclubs now, with no protective measures, if in September it will require double jab status? It makes no sense."
The ONS statistics also come amid an ongoing argument over the accuracy and sensitivity of the Government's Covid-19 app.
The so-called 'pingdemic' has sparked debate up and down England, with businesses said to be affected as people are forced to isolate.
A Government minister suggested on Tuesday that eople should not automatically self-isolate if they are "pinged" but should instead make an "informed decision" about what to do.
Business minister Paul Scully said self-isolating after being told to by the app was a decision for individuals and employers.
Although it has never been a legal requirement to obey the app's instructions, the official NHS guidance has been that people should "self-isolate immediately" when told to.
Mr Scully told Times Radio: "It's important to understand the rules. You have to legally isolate if you are on the... contacted by Test and Trace, or if you're trying to claim isolation payments.
"The app is there to give... to allow you to make informed decisions. And I think by backing out of mandating a lot of things, we're encouraging people to really get the data in their own hands to be able to make decisions on what's best for them, whether they're employer or an employee."
Asked whether this meant people should or should not self-isolate if "pinged", he said: "We want to encourage people to still use the app to be able to do the right thing, because we estimate it saves around 8,000 lives."
However, he added that it was "up to individuals and employers".
