Coronavirus news you may have missed overnight: Computer glitch leads to record 22,961 new cases

The total number of Covid-19 cases recorded in the UK since the start of the pandemic has exceeded 500,000, with official figures for the number of patients in hospital beginning to rise as the number of cases also increase around the country.

It comes as Boris Johnson warned the nation that the Covid-19 crisis will remain “bumpy until Christmas and possibly beyond” on Sunday.

Here is your daily roundup of coronavirus news you may have missed overnight.

UK sees 23,000 new cases following computer glitch

An “artificially high” new daily record of almost 23,000 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in the UK on Sunday night due to a computer glitch, said the government.

Public Health England said its official Covid dashboard failed to count more than 15,000 positive results reported between 25 September and 2 October, and added it to the figures for the weekend, resulting in record rises of 12,872 on Saturday and 22,961 on Sunday.

The backlog meant contact tracing for those cases had potentially been delayed for over a week. While officials insisted it had not affected “decision-making in local areas”, the glitch has been criticised by Labour as “shambolic”.

Only half of UK population to get vaccine, says task force boss

Less than half of the UK population could receive a vaccination against coronavirus, said the head of the country’s vaccine taskforce.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Kate Bingham said officials were hoping to vaccinate around 30 million adults in the UK, which has a population of around 67 million, adding: “We just need to vaccinate everyone at risk”.

She said there would be no vaccination of people under the age of 18, and that it would be “an adult-only vaccine for people over 50”, focusing on health workers, care home workers and the vulnerable.

UK will be ‘extremely proud’ of its coronavirus response, like the Olympics, says health minister

Lord Bethell, a health minister, has compared the UK government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic to the staging of the Olympics and said it could be “extremely proud” of how it had done.

Labour has demanded an apology from him for comparing the “incomprehensible” suffering caused by Covid-19 to “a time of national celebration”, branding his comments “tasteless and offensive”.

Lord Bethell said that although the government had “struggled” to get lists of care homes during the early stages of the crisis and was “caught on the hop” by the surge in demand for testing at the start of September, some “outstanding” elements of the response had not been fully appreciated.

Kenzo Takada dies from coronavirus

The founder of global fashion brand Kenzo, Kenzo Takada, has died from coronavirus at the age of 81.

The Japanese fashion designer died on 4 October at the American Hospital in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France.

He was born in Japan but moved to Paris in 1964, and launched his namesake fashion line in 1970. Mr Takada was described by the CEO of his K-3 brand, Jonathan Bouchet Manheim, as “incredibly creative” with a “zest for life”.

Calls for honesty from President Trump’s doctors

Donald Trump’s team of doctors have been told to be straight with the American people after a weekend filled with misleading and conflicting accounts of his health following his coronavirus diagnosis last week.

The president’s physician, Dr Sean Conley, was pressed on Sunday about conflicting accounts of the president’s condition. Mr Conley acknowledged he had tried to present an “upbeat” description.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi said the doctors treating Mr Trump must provide trustworthy information to the public, telling CBS’s Face the Nation: “We need to have trust that what they’re telling us about the president’s condition is real.”