Covid infections increase 60.2 per cent to 14,876 today

Covid cases continue to CLIMB: Daily infections leap 60% to 14,876 while deaths shoot from six to 11 – as jabs drive sees total of 433,946 first and second doses in last 24 hours

  • Department of Health bosses posted 14,876 Covid cases today — up up from the 9,284 recorded last Sunday  
  • Some 200,383 had their first vaccine dose yesterday taking the UK’s total number to 44.1million jabbed
  • UK is dishing out 362,079 vaccines a day down from a recent peak of more than 590,000 at the end of May 

Covid cases continued to rise today, breaching more than 10,000 cases for the seventh day in a row for the first time since the end of February.

Department of health bosses posted another 14,876 cases today, increasing 60.2 per cent on last Sunday’s figure of 9,284.

Infections fell slightly on yesterday’s four-month high of 18,270 — the highest daily total since February 5 and the highest figure recorded on a Saturday since the height of the winter wave on January 30.  

Eleven deaths with Covid were recorded today, up 83.3 per cent on last Sunday. Fatalities have increased week-on-week for the seventh day running but remain comparatively low. 

Britain’s vaccine rollout continues to push forward slowly, with 200,383 first doses given out yesterday — taking the total number to nearly 44.1million. Some 158,307 people received their second dose, meaning 32.2million people are now fully vaccinated — 61.6 per cent of the adult population.

On average, the UK is dishing out 362,079 total vaccines a day at the moment, down from a recent peak of more than 590,000 at the end of May.  

It comes after BBC news presenter Andrew Marr today revealed he contracted Covid last week despite having been fully jabbed.

The 61-year-old journalist made the stunning admission this morning on his eponymous television programme, saying he believes he contracted it while covering the G7 in Cornwall.

Meanwhile, the two women behind the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine said they do not believe any Covid variant can fully escape the jab.

Amid concerns surrounding the surge in cases caused by the Indian ‘Delta’ variant across the UK currently, Sarah Gilbert and Cath Green, who together pioneered the jab at the University Oxford said they are now focusing their efforts on tackling mutant strains.

Mr Marr today revealed said he had symptoms akin to ‘a summer cold’ and said it had been ‘really, really quite unpleasant’.

He filmed his Sunday morning programme live from Cornwall on June 13 while the G7 was going on. But he was not inside the closed off area at Carbis Bay, instead filming from the Tate St Ives gallery.

His illness caused him to miss the programme last week, which was presented by Today host Nick Robinson.

At the start of an interview today with Professor Sir Peter Horby, the chairman of virus advisory group Nervtag, he said: ‘I hope it is not self indulgent Sir Peter to ask you about me, because I got coronavirus last week.

‘I’d been double jabbed earlier in the spring and felt, if not king of the world, at least almost entirely immune. And yet I got it, was I just unlucky?’

Sir Peter replied: ‘I think you were. What we know with the vaccines is that they are actually remarkably effective at preventing hospitalisations and deaths. 

‘They are less effective at preventing infection. So although you were sick you were not hospitalised and there wasn’t’ any fatality and that is probably because of the vaccination.’

BBC news presenter Andrew Marr today revealed he contracted Covid last week despite having been fully vaccinated 

Later, interviewing London mayor Sadiq Khan about the Indian variant, he added: ‘It’s spreading quite fast. I’ve been a victim, though I think I got mine at the G7 in Cornwall.’

What are the chances of catching Covid after two jabs? 

Having two vaccinations slashes the chances of getting Covid to just one in 22,500.

A study released earlier this month suggested those who are fully vaccinated are three times less likely than those who have had only had one dose of the jab, according to a study.

The risk of catching Covid rises to one in 2,908 in those who are unvaccinated.

The study, based on data gathered from more than a million users of the ZOE Covid Symptom Study app, is yet more evidence that vaccines have broken the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths.

Officials estimate some 14,000 lives have already been saved and 42,000 hospitalisations prevented by the vaccine programme. 

Mr Marr, then 53, nearly died following a stroke in 2013 and was admitted to Charing Cross Hospital in the middle of the night.  

So he is likely to have been vaccinated among the first wave as someone who is clinically vulnerable.

He added today: ‘I’m pretty clear that by being vaccinated I did not end up in hospital and that is a great thing.

‘But we use slightly glibly occasionally this phrase ”mild and moderate infections”. For me it was really, really quite unpleasant.’

Last week Health chiefs in Cornwall denied the G7 was not to blame for spiralling Covid cases locally.

Rachel Wigglesworth, its director of public health, argued infections were already increasing before the three-day summit took place because of May’s easing of restrictions.

Leaders of the UK, US, Canada, Japan, France, Germany and Italy descended on the region between June 11 and 13, along with their teams, security staff, journalists and protesters.

Afterwards, coronavirus cases in Cornwall skyrocketed ten-fold in a week, raising fears about the viability of the region’s vital tourism industry.

The Indian variant is now dominant in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, where infections increased overall to 59.8 per 100,000 in the seven days to June 11 – up from 5.6 the week before.

St Ives, which hosted the summit, had a case rate of 517.5 per 100,000 in the week to June 11 – one of the highest in the country.

In Falmouth, where much G7 activity took place, cases rose sharply to 382.1 per 100,000. The summit itself ran from June 11 to 13. 

But No10 has consistently denied that the major international political event, which included US president Joe Biden’s first UK visit, was behind the surge in cases. 

It pointed to regular testing for all those attending. 

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