UK records 100 Covid deaths as cases rise by almost 33,000

A hundred more people have died in the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, latest figures from the government have shown, with cases rising by almost 33,000.

Daily cases have remained above 30,000 for the second day, with Friday's figure of 32,700 following 33,074 new infections recorded on Thursday.

Cases had fallen as low as 21,691 last week following a high of 54,674 in mid-July, but hopes of the pandemic subsiding appear to have been dashed by the latest figures.

Dr Simon Clarke, associate professor in cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, said while vaccines are reducing the number of hospital admissions and deaths, high case numbers "still place an unnecessary burden on the NHS".

The rate of new cases is rising in all four nations, suggesting the sharp fall in Covid-19 cases that had been under way since July 17 has now come to an end.

With infection prevalence in England at around 25 times higher than the same time last year, Dr Clarke said the current situation is "an early sense of what living with Covid-19 looks like".

In total the UK has now recorded 6,211,868 Covid-19 cases since the virus first emerged.

And with another 100 people dying within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19, as of 9am Friday, the UK's total deaths stand at 130,801.

Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 155,000 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Government data up to August 12 also showed that 40,206,029 people are fully vaccinated for coronavirus and 47,215,352 have had only their first dose.

It means more than 76% of the UK's adult population has been double-jabbed.