The UK has recorded 170 more COVID-related deaths and 26,852 new coronavirus cases in the latest 24-hour period, according to government data.

It is the highest number of fatalities reported in one day since 12 March, when 175 deaths were announced.

The latest figures compare with 28,438 coronavirus infections and 26 fatalities reported on Monday, while this time last week 23,510 cases and 146 deaths were recorded.

Since the pandemic started in 2020, a total of 131,149 people have died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19. There have also been 6,322,241 lab-confirmed infections.

Separate figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show there have been 156,000 deaths registered in the UK where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

According to the latest government data, 773 COVID patients were admitted to hospital on 13 August, and there were 5,549 admissions in the last seven days, a rise of 3.9% compared with the previous week.

On Monday, 35,716 people in the UK had their first dose of a vaccine, taking the total to 47,369,418 (89.6% of the adult population).

138,390 had their second jab yesterday, so a total of 40,841,971 are now fully vaccinated – 77.2% of UK adults.

It comes after the UK health regulator approved the Moderna vaccine for 12 to 17-year-olds.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it is now up to the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) to advise the government on whether children in that age bracket should be given the jab.

The MHRA said the jab – also known as the Spikevax vaccine – is “safe and effective in this age group”.

At present, some children aged 12 to 15 are only offered the Pfizer COVID jab if they are considered to be clinically vulnerable.

On Tuesday, new figures also showed one in 20 deaths registered in the most recent week in England and Wales mentioned COVID on the death certificate – the highest proportion in more than four months.

A total of 10,187 deaths were registered in the week ending 6 August, of which 527 (5.2%) involved coronavirus.

This is the highest proportion of deaths involving the virus since March, according to data from the ONS.

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