The UK has recorded 37,011 new COVID cases and 68 more coronavirus-related deaths in the latest 24-hour period, government data shows.

The figures compare with 37,578 infections and 120 fatalities reported yesterday, while 33,196 cases and 61 deaths were announced this time last week.

Also, a further 39,752 people received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, bringing the total number to 48,245,337 (88.8% of over-16s in the UK).

And 127,156 had their second jab yesterday, meaning 43,378,193 are now fully inoculated (79.8% of over-16s).

According to the latest data, 985 COVID patients were admitted to hospital on 31 August, while there were 6,566 admissions in the last seven days, a 3.7% rise on the week before.

Since the pandemic began, a total of 133,229 people have died in the UK within 28 days of a positive COVID test and there have been 6,978,126 lab-confirmed cases.

It comes as a minister told Sky News that vaccine passports are going to be introduced at big venues to avoid winter closures.

Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sunday, Nadhim Zahawi said the government wanted to avoid a situation where businesses continually had to open and close their doors at short notice.

The vaccines minister also said that no decision has been made on whether to offer COVID-19 jabs to all 12 to 15-year-olds – and he stressed that, if this does happen, parental consent will be required.

Meanwhile, Gordon Brown has said the leaders of the seven biggest Western economies need to meet in the next two weeks to arrange for millions of vaccine doses to be sent to Africa to stop COVID returning to “haunt” their countries.

The former Labour prime minister claimed new variants like Delta could emerge and head to the West unless vaccination rates in Africa are improved.

He told Trevor Phillips that up to a billion doses ordered in Europe and North America will become available by December that should be used in African countries.

And he said it wouldn’t mean that over-12s in the UK would have to go without if jabs are offered to them – nor would it affect the booster programme.

In another development, a leading health organisation has said demanding all NHS staff have the coronavirus jab is not necessary with workers already overwhelmingly “doing the right thing”.

Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents the frontline healthcare system in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, told Sky News it was not an issue that needed tackling.

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He made his comments as the government is set to launch a consultation on extending the mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirement from care home staff to NHS employees.

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