More than 1,700 new cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the UK in the last 24 hours.
The Department of Health has also recorded a further 13 deaths since yesterday, bringing the UK death toll to 41,527.
A total of 1,735 tests results have come back positive in the last 24 hours - the highest number of confirmed cases in a day since June 4, and an increase of 227 from yesterday.
A total of 340,411 cases have now been confirmed in the UK since the pandemic began.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,300 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
A further 15 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,585, according to NHS England.
The patients were aged between 50 and 95 and all had known underlying health conditions.
The dates of the deaths ranged from March 27 to September 2, with the majority on or before August 31.
Another five deaths have been reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.
One more confirmed coronavirus patient has died in Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon said.
The First Minister told the Scottish Government’s regular coronavirus briefing the total number of Covid-19 fatalities of people who first tested positive in the previous 28 days was now 2,496.
There have been no further reported deaths of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Wales, health officials have said.
The total number of deaths since the beginning of the pandemic remains at 1,596.
The new figures come as it was revealed that the number of close contacts being reached through Test and Trace is at its lowest since the system was launched.
A total of 6,732 new people tested positive for Covid-19 in England in the week to August 26, an increase of 6 per cent in positive cases on the previous week and the highest weekly number since the week to June 3.
New figures from the Department of Health show that 69.4 per cent of close contacts of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in England were reached through the Test and Trace system in the week ending August 26.
This is down from 77.1 per cent in the previous week, and the lowest weekly percentage since Test and Trace was launched in May.
Justin Madders, shadow health minister, described the latest figures as “hugely disappointing” and said there was “clearly a problem with testing infrastructure”.
