Coronavirus: UK records another 14,162 COVID-19 cases

The UK has recorded another 14,162 coronavirus cases, bringing the total number during the pandemic to 544,275.

Wednesday's daily figure is a slight fall compared with the 14,542 new infections announced yesterday.

Live updates on coronavirus from UK and around world

The latest numbers follow several days of confusion as around 16,000 cases in England were missed by the NHS Test and Trace scheme.

The government said a further 70 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19 as of Wednesday, a fall from the 76 deaths reported the previous day. This takes the UK total to 42,515.

There have now been 58,000 deaths registered in the UK where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies have shown.

It was also announced that 2,944 COVID-19 patients were in hospital in England as of Wednesday, up from 1,958 a week ago, while 376 COVID-19 hospital patients were in ventilation beds, which is an increase from 281 a week ago.

A total of 472 patients with confirmed coronavirus were admitted to hospitals in England on Monday, compared with 308 a week earlier.

The figures for hospital admissions and patients on ventilators in England are the highest since June, and case numbers have continued to rise. A fortnight ago, there were 4,926 cases recorded on 22 September.

Boris Johnson is facing fresh pressure to consider a tighter national lockdown as the country continues to grapple with COVID-19.

At Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said 19 of the 20 areas subjected to local measures for two months had seen infection rates increase.

Mr Johnson hinted that tougher measures could be needed in London and the Midlands.

"I wish I could pretend that everything was going to be rosy in the Midlands or indeed in London where, alas, we are also seeing infections rise," he said, before calling for a "concerted national effort".

:: Subscribe to the Daily podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker

Meanwhile, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced tougher restrictions on Wednesday.

She said that pubs, restaurants and cafes will be barred from selling alcohol indoors for more than two weeks.

They can continue selling food and non-alcoholic drinks indoors until 6pm and are able to sell alcohol outside up until the 10pm curfew.