THE number of UK coronavirus cases rose by 14,542 today – the second highest rise the nation has seen since the start of the pandemic.
Another 76 Covid deaths were also confirmed, making today’s rise in fatalities the highest daily spike in more than three months.
It means 530,113 have now tested positive for the bug in Britain, while 42,445 have died.
Scotland recorded two more fatalities in the last 24 hours, raising the grim tally to 2,532.
It comes after Public Health England admitted they had missed 15,841 cases from their official stats between September 25 and October 2.
The backlog led to an over-inflated record high of 22,961 additional cases on Sunday.
It was reported that thousands of cases had failed to upload because a Public Health Excel spreadsheet had reached its maximum size.
The Department of Health confirmed yesterday that the issue had been resolved and the latest infection tally does not include any additional cases from previous days.
Today’s rise in deaths is the highest rise recorded since July 1, when 97 fatalities were logged.
It is far greater than yesterday’s rise (19), but it is similar to the rise recorded last Tuesday (71).
In England, a further 50 deaths were confirmed today, bringing the total number of Covid fatalities in English hospitals to 30,226.
The patients, who died between October 1 and October 5, were aged between 42 and 96 – and all but four had underlying health conditions.
In Wales, 10 more deaths were reported, raising the Covid death toll in Wales to 1,640.
Northern Ireland reported one more death, raising the figure there to 585.
It comes after Boris Johnson vowed to “build back” Britain better after seeing off the “alien invader” of coronavirus.
