The rate at which people are being admitted to English hospitals with Covid-19 has hit its highest since February.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said the rate was 8.44 per 100,000 people in the week to 24 October, up from 7.5 a week prior and the highest since 21 February.
Separate figures released by the government showed a further 165 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Thursday, bringing the UK total to 140,206. The data revealed that the seven-day total for deaths was up 16.2 per cent compared with the previous week.
And as of 9am on Thursday, there had been a further 39,842 lab-confirmed Covid-19 cases in the UK, the government said. In brighter news, this meant cases reported between 22 and 28 October were down 9.8 per cent compared with the previous seven days.
