Nearly 5,000 new cases in 24 hours takes UK total past 400,000

It's the highest number of new cases in a day since May 7.

Nearly 5,000 cases of coronavirus have been recorded today, taking the total number of UK infections past the 400,000 mark.

The Government said 4,926 people have tested positive in the last 24 hours – bringing the total number of confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic to 403,551.

This is the highest daily total since May 7 and the latest sign a second wave of infections is taking hold across the country. It’s another increase on the 4,368 cases recorded yesterday and the fourth day in five that the number has been above 4,000.

Another 37 people have died with coronavirus in the UK, the new figures showed – the highest daily death toll since July 8. In total 41,825 people have now died within 28 days of testing positive for the disease.

It comes as new measures to contain the spread of the virus, including a 10pm curfew for all hospitality venues, were announced in the House of Commons by Boris Johnson.

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The release of the Government’s daily figures followed separate data from The Office for National Statistics which showed that the number of weekly deaths has risen for the first time since April.   

Stats published earlier showed that 99 people in England and Wales died with coronavirus in the week ending September 11, up from 78 a week earlier. This is still the second lowest number of registered deaths involving the virus since March.

In Wales, a further 281 positive cases of coronavirus were recorded but no new deaths. Of those cases, 77 were in Rhondda Cynon Taf, 34 were in Bridgend, 30 were in Cardiff, 28 were in Swansea and 20 were in Merthyr Tydfil.

Dr Giri Shankar, of Public Health Wales, said cases are increasing in all parts of Wales so there is ‘no room for complacency’ in any area.

He added: ‘We are also seeing an increase in the number of people who are seriously ill and have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19.’

In Scotland, where visiting friends and family in their homes has been banned, there were 383 cases in the past 24 hours.

A total of 25,009 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland. This is 7.6% of newly-tested individuals, up from 6.3% on Monday.

Announcing a series of new measures earlier, the Prime Minister said people should expect to live under restrictions for another six months.

Along with the 10pm curfew for venues, people have been told to work from home if they can and the number of guests allowed at wedding receptions have been cut from 30 to 15.

Harsher penalties for not wearing face masks have been introduced and businesses can now be shut down if they are not doing enough to contain the spread of the virus.

Mr Johnson stressed that the country isn’t returning to a full lockdown, but said he would have to introduce even stricter measures if the latest set of rules fail to have an impact.

Elsewhere, the US has passed the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths during the pandemic and people have been warned this figure could double by January.

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