UK Covid cases surge by almost 45,000 for a second day as 145 more people die

Coronavirus cases in the UK are continuing to surge with almost 45,000 new infections over the last 24 hour period.

There were 44,932 fresh cases announced on Friday while official figures show that a further 145 people have died in the UK over the past 28 days from Covid.

The total number of deaths from Covid now stands at 138,379.

At the same time there have been a further 71,480 vaccinations across the UK and so more than 49.3 million people have had at least their first dose which works out at 85.8% of the public aged 12 and over.

More than 45.2 million (78.8% of the population aged 12 and over) have had at least two doses.

More than 45.2 million (78.8% of the population aged 12 and over) have now had at least two doses (Getty Images)

The latest daily number of infections is a rise on the 45,066 new cases recorded yesterday which were the highest for three months.

There have now been 281,042 people in the UK who have tested positive for coronavirus in the last week and 818 people have died.

Statistics have also indicated that one in 60 people now have had Covid in England over the past week.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated data has revealed that the overall surge in cases means that one in 60 people in the England have had Covid over the past week, compared to one in 45 in Wales, one in 80 in Scotland and one in 120 in Northern Ireland.

In early January during the peak of the second wave there were around one in 50 people on average who had the virus over a week period.

(Daily Mirror/Andy Stenning)

The ONS said: "Data from the Coronavirus Infection Survey shows one million people across the UK had COVID-19 in the latest week, as infections rose across England and Wales, but fell in Scotland."

Professor Tim Spector, lead scientist on the ZOE COVID Study app, comments on the latest data: "The UK seems to be slowly waking up to the fact that COVID cases are too high, but the reality is they’ve been soaring for months and many countries have put us on their red list.

"Infections remain high in young people, and look to be spilling over into the 35-55 year olds. If these increases creep into the over 55s it could spell disaster for the NHS this winter."

Earlier today Ipswich reported the highest rise in Covid cases in England with a jump of 46% in the week to October 10 to 749.4 cases per 100,000 people - which is the fourth highest rate for a district.

That compared to a rate of 514.0 cases per 100,000 in the week to October 3.