Almost 174,000 people in England have tested positive for coronavirus in a single week - the highest ever recorded. Test and Trace today revealed 173,875 people tested positive at least once in England between December 10-16.
That is up 58% in a week. And 8.7% of all those tested came back positive - a big leap on 6.2% the previous week. The number of positive tests is the highest ever recorded by Test and Trace, outstripping the previous weekly high of 169,000 at the start of the November lockdown.
It is possible more people were positive in March and April, when testing wasn't widespread. But today's figures show there has been a jump in waiting times for test results.