UK records nearly 30,000 more Covid cases as deaths drop slightly to 68
There have been another 29,622 Covid cases and 68 deaths recorded in the UK in the latest 24 hour period.
Another 927 people were admitted to hospital with Covid on July 26 and hospitalisations have increased by 19% week-on-week.
Today’s figures represent a slight dip on yesterday and a much bigger weekly decline, with cases falling 36% compared to the previous seven days.
It brings an end to two straight days of rising cases but the numbers remain relatively high.
It’s after the Office for National Statistics community infection survey found one in 65 had Covid in the week ending July 24.
This came before the daily infection figures began to fall but shows that the virus is still spreading around the country, despite positive signs the third wave may be weakening.
The latest vaccination figures show another 42,410 have had their first dose and 180,155 have had their second. A total of 71.8% of the entire adult population is now fully vaccinated.
Earlier England’s R rate, which predicts how fast cases are spreading, fell slightly from between 1.2 and 1.4 to between 1.1 and 1.4.
It comes as speculation mounts that Spain is set to join France on the ‘amber plus’ travel list, meaning even double-vaccinated people will still have to self isolate if they travel there.
Data expert Tim White believes the Government may announce next week that the country will be added to the list.
This is due to NHS Test and Trace figures showing that 2.9% of people arriving in England from Spain between July 1 and 21 tested positive for coronavirus.
Mr White said: ‘More worryingly for Spain is that 3% of the samples had a variant not widespread in UK. So, from the data, my analysis is bleak.’
Experts have warned the Government that the autumn could be a particularly risky point for the country, as schools and universities return for the new term.
This, coupled with an increase in foreign travel due to the loosening of restrictions, could place a significant pressure on the health service and expose the UK to new variants, the scientists warned in newly published papers.
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