UK records another 77,509 Covid-19 cases and 172 deaths

The latest daily infections tally is down on Thursday’s figure of 98,204, while deaths are slightly up from 165 on Thursday.

The statistics are released as it emerged the number of Covid cases being diagnosed in the capital has increased by 28 per cent in a week.

Professor Tim Spector, the lead scientist behind the Zoe Covid tracker app, warned “there had never been a riskier time to travel”, with his data suggesting one in 19 people in the UK have covid symptoms.

City Hall statistics gathered from the NHS show there were 58,092 confirmed cases in London in the week to March 18 – up 28 per cent on the 45,211 in the previous seven days.

But the rate of increase is slowing – it was almost 50 per cent a week ago – and London’s rate is below the national average and is the third lowest of the English regions.

The last daily figures for people in hospital with Covid were released yesterday and stood at 17,440.