The UK’s weekly coronavirus death toll is at its highest level since late March, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.
A total of 527 deaths in England and Wales in the first week of August mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, up by 30 per cent from the previous week.
This means that 156,307 death certificates in the UK have included coronavirus as a cause of death.
Meanwhile the military has been drafted to help ambulance services across the country, which are currently busier than at any other time in NHS history.
Busy A&E departments and staff shortages have made it difficult for paramedics to unload patients at hospitals in a timely manner, and military personnel have been assisting services in the north east, the south west and the east of England.
The military assistance comes as ambulance data shows that July was the busiest month on record for emergency 999 calls.
