UK Covid daily cases hit highest total in three months with 45,140 infections as deaths rise by 57

COVID cases have risen by 45,140 today, the largest number of reported infections in three months.

It is a rise of more than 26 per cent from last Sunday’s case number of 35,784.

It was the fifth consecutive day the number of people testing positive for Covid has exceeded 40,000.

Today’s figures are the highest number of daily cases since July 20 when 46,558 infections were recorded in a day.

More than 300,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the last seven days.

Today’s increase in reported cases means the overall number of people in the UK who have caught the virus is now 8,449,165.

CASE SURGE

Another 57 people have died from the disease, bringing the total number of deaths to 138,584.

Another 23,706 first doses of the vaccine have been given, meaning almost 86 per cent of Brits over the age of 12 have had at least one jab.

And 32,983 second doses were administered, with almost 79 per cent of people now fully protected.

It comes as thousands of people must retake their coronavirus tests because a dodgy lab exposed by Trending In The News was giving false negative results.