UK records highest number of new coronavirus cases since June
There were more than 1,500 new cases of coronavirus confirmed in the UK today, the highest daily figure in more than two months.
According to new data from the Department of Health and Social Care, 1,522 more people were confirmed to have contracted the disease in the last 24 hours.
The new figure represents a 50 per cent increase on the day before, when there were 1,048 new cases.
It is also the highest daily number of new cases recorded since 12 June, just as the UK was beginning to emerge from lockdown.
An additional 12 people have died of the disease, government statistics confirmed, taking the total number of fatalities to 41,477.
The jump in cases comes amid fears of a potential second wave of infections around the world.
According to the data, the seven day average for new cases in the UK now stands at 1,155. On 5 July, this figure was 546.
However, the increase in cases may be down to an increase in testing capacity. 186,500 tests were processed yesterday, slightly ahead of the weekly average of 180,326.
By contrast, at the beginning of July, the average number of tests per day stood around 135,000.