UK Covid death toll rises by 504 as 16,298 more cases are confirmed
A further 504 people had died from Covid-19 in the UK bringing the total to 60,617 as a further 16,298 cases were confirmed.
Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 76,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
The new cases bring the total number in the UK to 1,690,432.
The latest numbers come as the reproduction number, or R value, of coronavirus transmission across the UK is now between 0.8 and 1, the Government Office for Science and the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) said.
Last week, the R number was between 0.9 and 1.
R represents the average number of people each Covid-19 positive person goes on to infect.
When the figure is above 1, an outbreak can grow exponentially.
An R number between 0.8 and 1 means that on average every 10 people infected will infect between 8 and 10 other people.
England
There were a further 424 deaths from Covid-19 confirmed in England on Friday and 13,412 more cases.
Wales
There have been a further 1,471 cases of coronavirus in Wales, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 85,432.
Public Health Wales reported another 33 deaths, taking the total in Wales since the start of the pandemic to 2,671.
Scotland
There were 966 new cases of coronavirus in Scotland on Friday and a further 41 deaths.
Northern Ireland
Some 11 more Covid-19 deaths were confirmed in Northern Ireland on Friday and a further 449 cases.