MINI SURGE
UK Covid cases highest in a MONTH with 37k new infections and 114 more deaths
UK Covid cases have reached their highest level in a month.
There have been 37,314 new cases in the past 24 hours, with 114 more deaths.
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Today's new daily cases are the highest they've been since July 22, when there were 39,315.
It comes as the R rate has gone up for the first time in weeks, with Professor Chris Whitty warning there are "very sick" youngsters in hospital.
Government experts said today England's R rate - which indicates whether the Covid pandemic is growing or not - is estimated to be 0.9 to 1.2, up from 0.8 to 1 last week.
The R rate is relatively the same across all regions in the country, but slightly lower (0.9 to 1.1) in London, North East and Yorkshire and the North West.
The value has now gone up for the first time after six weeks of a downward or stable trend, after Brits were given more freedoms.
It comes as England’s chief medical officer Professor Chris Whitty has urged people not to delay getting a vaccine, saying there are some “very sick” young adults in hospital with the virus.
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He tweeted: “The great majority of adults have been vaccinated. Four weeks working on a Covid ward makes stark the reality that the majority of our hospitalised Covid patients are unvaccinated and regret delaying.
“Some are very sick including young adults. Please don’t delay your vaccine.”
Data reveals vaccines are continuing to save lives, even if they are not 100 per cent effective.
Of the 7,285 people admitted to hospital with Delta so far, 31 per cent were unvaccinated, according to new figures from Public Health England, while 10 per cent of people had one dose, and 58 per cent had two.
A total of 1,189 people have died of the Delta Covid variant in England
The most deaths in over 50s were in those who were fully vaccinated (61 per cent).
But in under 50s, almost two-thirds (64 per cent) were unvaccinated.
Vaccine immunity waning in older groups as cases rise, expert warns
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