The UK has recorded 147 more coronavirus-related deaths and 37,622 new COVID-19 infections in the latest 24-hour period.

The government figures compare with 167 fatalities within 28 days of a positive test and 38,013 infections reported yesterday and 121 deaths and 42,076 cases announced this time last week.

Since the pandemic began early last year, 133,988 people in the UK have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID and there have been 7,168,806 lab-confirmed infections.

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Also, 25,774 people received their first dose of a coronavirus vaccine yesterday, bringing the total to 48,370,340 (89% of people aged 16 and over in the UK).

And 96,702 had their second jab on Wednesday, meaning 43,805,608 are now fully vaccinated (80.6%).

It comes as the approval of booster jabs is likely in the next few days – despite Professor Dame Sarah Gilbert, who helped design the AstraZeneca jab, saying not everyone will need one.

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The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), released today, showed that in England, COVID rates were rising in children aged from two to those in year 11, and for those aged 35 to 49 in the week to September 3.

Those aged 25 to 46 and 50 to 69 saw decreasing rates, while the rest of the age groups are uncertain.

The ONS found the percentage of people testing positive for COVID is estimated to have gone up in the North East of England, down in the South East and North West, and remained level in London.

The trend for the rest of England is uncertain.

In the North East, around one in 45 people were thought to have coronavirus in the week to 3 September – compared to one in 90 in the East of England.

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About one in 45 people in Scotland were estimated to have COVID, in Wales it was one in 65 and in Northern Ireland the figure was one in 60 – an increase for all three nations.

Earlier today, the United Kingdom Health Security Agency estimate of the R rate in England remained unchanged, sitting between 0.9 and 1.1, meaning for every 10 people with COVID, another 9 to 11 will catch the disease.

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