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The UK has announced more than 10,000 cases of coronavirus daily for the first time since mass testing began.
There were 12,872 new cases reported, while a further 49 people died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19.
However, the government said the technical issue meant that some cases were not reported this week so these were included in Saturday’s data.
Data released later this week suggests that the infection may have progressed more slowly than in previous weeks.
This data was based on a weekly test of a sample of people in the community to find out how many people have the virus in England at any given time.
The government also closely monitors the number of daily positive cases, as it provides the most advanced snapshots.
However, he published a cautionary message on his “data dashboard”, explaining that the average reported in the coming days would include some of the previous week’s cases, “an increase in the number of reported cases”.
A health department spokesman said the issue did not affect those who received test results, and those who tested positive were generally reported.
The announcement of the obvious setbacks in the daily count comes at an “awkward moment”, according to the BBC’s health editor Hugh Pim, “when ministers and health chiefs try to assess the spread rate, the daily Covid-19 data is scrutinized.
He added: “After criticism in recent months of the way total tests are calculated, ministers and officials now have to face more questions about the compilation of daily case data.”
The daily total rose sharply from 4,044 on Monday to 7,143 on Tuesday. However, the daily total remained stable over the next four days – at a time when a steady increase could be expected – fluctuating between 6,914 and 7,108.
And then came the big jump in numbers announced on Saturday, a much bigger day-to-day increase than at any other time in the entire epidemic, which was announced five hours later than usual and with the government’s explanation.
The figures released on Saturday would also have been partly spread by the fact that 264,979 tests were processed the previous day, the third-highest level ever in a 24-hour period.
Saturday’s figure brings the total number of cases registered in the UK to 480,017.
The increase in the UK is reflected in much of Europe.
- On the same day, 16,972 new cases were reported in France – a new daily high for the country.
- The Netherlands and Belgium announced 3,967 and 3,175 new positive results, respectively, with new highs in both countries.
- Meanwhile, Russia, Europe’s most populous country, reported 9,859 cases – its highest level since May.
Middlesbrough is under government surveillance following an increase in cases
Strict sanctions came into effect on Saturday after a spike in coronavirus cases in some parts of northern England.
It is now illegal to meet other in-house people in Liverpool City Region, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough and Wringington.
That means more than a third of the UK is now under sanctions.
They were also tightened this week in Newcastle, Northumberland, Gateshead, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham, as well as four areas in North Wales.
The new rules have come as hundreds of Northumbria University students are self-separating after testing positive for covid.
Elsewhere, people coming to the UK from Turkey and Poland will now have to be quarantined for two weeks.
The new rules – which also apply to the Caribbean islands of Bonner, St. Eustatius and Saba – came into effect on Saturday from 04:00 BST.
After a steady decline since the first peak in April, confirmed coronavirus daily cases in the UK have been rising again since July, with the growth rate rising sharply since the end of August.
Sage, an organization that advises the UK government, says the epidemic is growing rapidly across the country.
Their latest R number estimate – showing how fast the epidemic is rising or falling – has risen between 1.3 and 1.6.
But the National Face for National Statistics (ONS) estimates that 8,400 new cases were reported every day in England during the week from September 24 – slightly lower than the previous week’s estimate of 9,600 daily cases.
ONS estimates of how much of the population is currently infected are based on testing of representative samples of households with or without symptoms.
It differs from the number published daily by the Department of Health. It reports positive cases in people with potential covid symptoms who request tests.
