Covid cases hit a three-month high today and hospital admissions jumped again — but deaths fell.
The Department of Health’s daily update showed there were 42,776 positive tests across the country in the last 24 hours, up by seven per cent on the previous week.
The figure is the highest recorded since July 21, when 44,104 infections were posted and marks the eighth day in a row of rising cases.
Meanwhile, hospital admissions rose by 10.4 per cent week-on-week to 754, while deaths dropped by five per cent to 136.
Both measures lag behind case numbers by a few weeks, due to the time it takes for someone to become seriously unwell after catching the virus.
It comes amid growing fears the fourth wave is just around the corner, with infections now ticking up every age group.
More chaos for holidaymakers after NHS Covid vaccine pass app crashed for four hours
The NHS app did not allow anyone to view their Covid vaccine passes for more than four hours today, leaving holidaymakers unable to board flights.
In yet more travel chaos, the controversial software — which allows people to prove their vaccination status — was not displaying QR code passes because of ‘high traffic volumes’.
Users of the app started suffering issues before 12pm, and the health service said was ‘investigating the issue’. The app started working again shortly after 4.10pm.
Meanwhile, desperate people travelling abroad claim they have been forced to miss their flights.
One person claimed he was ‘stuck’ in Greece because he wasn’t allowed to board a journey back to England from Greece without the QR code. Another Brit currently in Naples said he wasn’t even able to ‘go for a p*** because the app is broken’.
Others have been left fretting about their upcoming holiday plans, with them unable to fill out passenger locator forms for flights today and tomorrow.
The app problems are the latest in a string of issues faced by travellers this summer, with queues of up to four hours building up at Heathrow’s arrivals last week because of e-gates crashing at the airport.
Ministers rolled out the UK’s new simplified travel system out on Monday last week, replacing the traffic light rules with a single go/no go system.
Fully-vaccinated travellers returning from a country that isn’t on the red list do not have to take a pre-departure test and are exempt from quarantine but they do have to take a day two test.
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In other developments today:
The NHS Covid vaccine pass app crashed for four hours – leaving Brits stranded abroad and unable to fly;Britain was told to brace for an early flu season by top expert, as fears grow that 60,000 could die from influenza this winter.
England recorded 36,458 new infections, 2,581 cases were confirmed in Scotland, while 2,266 were spotted in Wales and 1,471 in Northern Ireland.
Infections south of the border are fuelling the UK-wide rise, with cases in England reaching their highest level since July 21, when 39,504 cases were recorded.
The latest wave in the country peaked at around 50,000 in mid-July, before flattening out. But infection rates appear to be on the rise again.
Meanwhile, the number of positive tests recorded in Scotland and Wales appears to be flat. Rates are rising in Northern Ireland.
And week-on-week infection rates were rising in every age group on October 8 – the latest date the figures are available for.
Some 8.2million positive tests have been registered across the UK since the pandemic began.
But the real infection number is many millions higher, due to the limited testing capacity at the start of the crisis and not everyone who catches the virus coming forward for a test.
Sir Patrick Vallance, No10’s Chief Scientific Officer, said earlier this week that cases in the UK are ‘basically flat’, which shows there is an ‘equilibrium’ between immunity and the number of contacts people have.
But he warned figures can move ‘in one direction or another’, so if everyone starts making twice as many contacts, infections will ‘go up quite quickly’.
So it is a ‘balancing act’ with people’s behaviours and keeping immunity high, he said. The UK is ‘not out of the woods’, Sir Patrick added.
Some 49.2million first doses of the vaccine have been dished out and 45.2million second doses have been administered.
The figures equate to 85.6 per cent of over-12s having at least one jab and 78.7 per cent being fully immunised.
But the Department of Health is not yet publishing daily figures for the number of Britons coming forward for booster jabs.
ENGLAND: recorded daily 36,458 positive tests – the highest number since July 21, when 39,504 cases were registered
SCOTLAND: spotted 2,581 infections in the last day, as infections appear to be evening out. Scotland had a month-long drop in rates following a spike that was fuelled by pupils returning to classrooms
WALES: registered 2,266 new infections and infections appear to be relatively flat in the country
NORTHERN IRELAND: posted another 1,471 cases in the last 24-hours. Infections have been flat in the country throughout the summer
Britain told to brace for an early flu season
Britain should brace for an early flu outbreak this winter because cases are already rising in other countries, a top expert has warned.
The UK’s flu season tends to last from September to March but the virus does not usually heap pressure on the NHS until January.
Latest surveillance suggests cases have more than doubled in a fortnight but remain below levels seen from the same point of the 2019/2020 flu season. Health officials insist the virus is only circulating at ‘very low’ levels.
Dr John McCauley, one of the world’s most eminent flu scientists who is based at the Francis Crick Institute in London, warned surges in Croatia, India and China suggest there could be an earlier outbreak in the UK and other countries.
The outbreak in Croatia may act as a ‘canary in a coalmine’ because it is proof flu is already present and ticking upwards in Europe.
Outbreaks in India and China demonstrate that flu remains in circulation in large populations, and could quickly be exported to other countries by travellers.
He told MailOnline: ‘It’s over the next few weeks that we will be able to tell if what we are seeing now is sustained. If it is, we might expect an early flu season.’
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Third doses for over-50s, healthcare workers and those with underlying health conditions are a key part of the Government’s strategy to keep a lid on the pandemic this winter.
Some 754 Covid-infected Britons sought NHS care, while 7,011 patients are hospitalised in total, the latest daily figure show.
Meanwhile, 136 fatalities within 28 days of a positive test were recorded across the four nations, bringing the total to 138,080.
Ministers are closely watching both figures, which are two of the measurements used to determine whether restrictions are required in the coming months to suppress a fourth wave.
If Covid begins to overwhelm the NHS, No10 would implement ‘Plan B’ measures that could include compulsory face coverings in certain settings, work from home guidance and vaccine passports.
It comes as the NHS app did not allow anyone to view their Covid vaccine passes for more than four hours today, leaving holidaymakers unable to board flights.
The controversial software — which allows people to prove their vaccination status — was not displaying QR code passes because of ‘high traffic volumes’.
Users of the app started suffering issues before 12pm, and the health service said was ‘investigating the issue’. The app started working again shortly after 4.10pm.
Desperate people travelling abroad claim they have been forced to miss their flights.
Meanwhile, one of the world’s most eminent flu scientists told MailOnline to brace for an early flu season.
Cases are already high in other countries including Croatia, India and China, which could trigger an early outbreak in the UK and other countries.
Dr John McCauley, who is based at the Francis Crick Institute in London, told MailOnline: ‘It’s over the next few weeks that we will be able to tell if what we are seeing now is sustained. If it is, we might expect an early flu season.’
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