UK hits highest daily number of reported Covid deaths since February last year

The UK has recorded its highest daily number of Covid deaths since February 2021.A further 398 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for the virus in Wednesday's update, the largest amount since February 24 last year, when 442 deaths were reported.

Government figures now count the coronavirus death toll as 151,007, but separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there have been 176,000 deaths in the UK where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate.

A further 129,587 Covid-19 cases were also reported by the government, which brings the total since the start of the pandemic to 14,862,138.

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England

361 of the UK's deaths were registered in England, which bumps the nation's death toll up to 131,351.

A further 116,173 people tested positive for Covid-19. The total number of cases in England since the start of the pandemic is now 12,585,787.

Scotland

Scotland has recorded 21 further deaths of coronavirus patients and 7,606 new cases, the latest government figures show.

The overall number of confirmed cases is now 1,056,837, while the total number of people who have died having first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days is 1,074,591.

Wales

Public Health Wales has reported 2,886 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in the nation to 732,548.

A total of 14 new deaths have been reported and the death roll is currently 6,668.

Northern Ireland

Two new deaths have been reported in Northern Ireland but a further 2,922 people have tested positive for coronavirus.

This brings the total number of cases in the nation to 469,212 and the death toll to 3,017.