New cases of COVID-19 in England were rising by around 35,200 per day last week, up from 27,900 the week before, although there were tentative signs of a levelling-off around this rate, an official estimate showed on Friday.
The Office for National Statistics said around 433,300 people in England likely had the coronavirus last week, up from 336,500 the previous week - equating to 1 in 130 people - based on a modelled estimate derived from samples of the population.
Some of the estimates published by the ONS suggested the spread of the virus may no longer be accelerating.
Modelling showing a day-by-day breakdown of daily new cases, conducted by the University of Oxford, showed they had stabilised at around 35,000 per day by last Friday.
(Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Alistair Smout)
