Covid infections rise by 29,622 in UK and 68 more deaths recorded

A further 29,622 Covid-19 infections have been reported in the UK in the last 24-hour period.

It brings the total of cases since the start of the pandemic to 5,830,774.

Meanwhile, authorities recorded 68 more deaths where people had tested positive for the coronavirus within 28 days of their death.

The death toll in the country is 129,583.

The latest available hospitalisations data shows there were 5,916 Covid patients in hospital on Thursday, 869 of who were on ventilation.

England

Government data shows that a further 26,241 people have tested positive for Covid-19. It brings the total number of cases in England to 5,090,505.

There were 55 Covid-related deaths in England, bringing the death toll to 113,862.

Scotland

In Scotland, there were 1,456 more positive cases in the past 24 hours. The country has had 344,158 infections since the start of the outbreak.

And six more Covid deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 7,930.

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Wales

Public Health Wales reported 824 new cases. This takes the total number of cases in the nation to 240,843.

Meanwhile, there were four more deaths related to the virus. Wales now has a Covid death toll of 5,610.

Northern Ireland

Three more people died in Northern Ireland with Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 2,181.

In terms of cases, 1,101 more positive tests were reported by authorities. The country has a total of 155,268 infections since early last year.