The UK has recorded it second highest ever one day spike in new coronavirus cases, as 39,036 were recorded in the last 24 hours.
There have been a further 574 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, today's figures from the Department of Health show, which is down on yesterday's second-wave record of 744 but up on previous Thursdays.
There have now been 239,028 new cases officially recorded in the past seven days alone and 3,573 deaths over that period. The UK death toll is now at 69,625 - but the number of deaths with Covid-19 on the death certificate is 79,349.
Since the pandemic began, 2,188,587 people have caught the virus. It comes as two mutant strains of the virus spread across the UK, with last-minute calls from the Independent SAGE