in the latest 24—hour period. that means in the past week, there was an average of 31,635 new cases per day. there were just over 7500 people in hospital with covid according to the latest data. another 166 deaths have been recorded. that's of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid test, taking the average number per day in the last week to 139. 0n vaccinations, just under 90% people aged 16 or over have had their firstjab, while 82% are now double—vaccinated. england's chief medical officer says that without vaccination, virtually any child would contract coronavirus at some point. professor chris whitty told mps earlier that roughly half of all children had probably already had covid—19 and that future cases could cause disruption to schooling. and our view is firmly that people who have an infection are likely