UK coronavirus cases rise by 3,991 with 20 more deaths as test shortages strike across country

ALMOST 4,000 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the biggest 24-hour jump in more than 18 weeks. 

A further 3,991 cases were recorded overnight in the biggest rise since May 8 - as health chiefs battle to curb the surge in infections.

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Another 20 people died with the virus in the UK.

A total of 11 people lost their lives in hospitals in England. Casualties were aged between 69 and 98, and all had underlying health conditions.

In Scotland, one more person died, while Welsh authorities recorded no new fatalities.

Figures for Northern Ireland aren't yet available.

Officials say the rise in cases is down to increased testing.

The number of people taking a test has increased dramatically since May - with the NHS Track and Trace system meaning those who are tested are more likely to have been exposed.

In the UK, 901 people are currently in hospital with Covid-19, with 115 of that number in ventilator beds.

It's believed that there have been fewer hospital admission as many of those testing positive are young people - and less at risk.

However, today's new tolls were reported amid fears that Covid-19 is spreading to care homes once again.

It comes as:

• A winter version of Eat Out to Help Out could be introduced after the scheme's summertime success
• England's chief nurse has urged frontline medics to make sure they get the flu jab
• New figures show coronavirus cases are surging among people in their 40s and 50s
• Railway bosses says there's no evidence Belly Mujinga was spat at before she died of coronavirus
• Priti Patel says a family stopping in the street to chat to friends would break the law on the new 'rule of six'

And The Sun exclusively revealed today that 740 schools have ALREADY been forced to send kids home as a result of a fiasco that has seen hotspots run out of tests.

Tens of thousands of children across England are stuck in their bedrooms self-isolating because of the dire shortage of swabs.

Furious headteachers warned youngsters are being plunged into a second “lockdown by default” because of the crisis.

Some 240,000 people are awaiting the results of tests in the UK - and centres have been mobbed with huge queues.

And this week, a new report by Oxford University public policy researcher Toby Phillips suggests Rishi Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out may be behind the huge surge in new positive infections in the UK.

He also said it could have "encouraged extravagant levels of eating out" - as eateries had already almost recovered from lockdown when the scheme began.

As cases rise, it was revealed yesterday that no tests were available in 46 out of 48 of the nation’s worst Covid hotspots.

Meanwhile, new students appear to be flouting the new 'rule of six'.

The new clampdown measures were introduced across England to lower the number of people meeting in groups indoors and out.

Under the former rules, no more than 30 people could meet inside with up to one other household, but this has been slashed to just six.

The new rules also stipulate that the six people can be from different households, in an attempt to bring rules in line with outdoor gatherings.

But as universities open again, there are concerns the rules aren't being followed.

The return of classes has also led health chiefs in London to consider curfews to stop a second wave.

Some 500,000 students are set to arrive in the capital, and Professor Kevin Fenton, the London director of Public Health England, today warned that further restrictions could be imposed.

Young people between the ages of 17-21 with a "lack of social distancing" have been blamed for the spike in infections by Health Secretary Matt Hancock.