The UK has reported another 178,250 daily COVID cases and 229 deaths, according to the latest figures.

It compares to 179,756 infections and 231 fatalities yesterday, and 189,846 and 203 this time last week.

There are 18,454 people in hospital with coronavirus as of the last count, 868 of whom are in ventilation beds.

Just over 35m people have now had a third vaccine, meaning 61% of people aged 12 and over have been boosted.

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The R, or reproduction rate in England has increased and is now estimated to be between 1.2 to 1.5, according to the latest figures from the UK Health Security Agency.

It means that every 10 people with coronavirus will, on average, infect between 12 and 15 others.

The health secretary has said the NHS is facing a “rocky few weeks ahead” as it contends with a wave of Omicron cases.

Speaking during a visit to King’s College Hospital in south London, Sajid Javid warned of “challenging times” for the health service.

The “best thing” people can do is get their COVID-19 booster jab, he added.

“We know now that Omicron is less severe… and we certainly know that once you get boosted that your chance of hospitalisation, our latest analysis shows, is almost 90% less than it was with Delta,” he said.

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