in wales, with one in 830, and northern ireland, with one in 720, the trend was said to be uncertain. high case rates have been seen in some communities of the north west of england, like blackburn. they ve been driven by the delta variant, first identified in india. but officials and experts argue that vaccines have at least reduced the risk of becoming seriously ill. it s dominant, it is causing a lot of infections. we ve seen infections rising. and we also see, though, on the plus side, that the vaccines are still effective in the face of this variant, both in relation to hospitalisation and also deaths. much still depends on testing and tracing. after poor performance, including long waits, the system in england was criticised by the spending watchdog last year. in a new report, there are still said to be pressing challenges, though overall performance against targets has improved. testing played a part in assessing pilot spectator events like the fa cup final. out of 58,000 specta
much still depends on testing and tracing. after poor performance, including long waits, the system in england was criticised by the spending watchdog last year. in a new report, there are still said to be pressing challenges, though overall performance against targets has improved. testing played a part in assessing pilot spectator events like the fa cup final. a report says no substantial outbreaks were identified, but more research is needed to understand the risks, and further trials including at wimbledon will now take place. hugh pym, bbc news. well, the latest government figures show there were 18 deaths reported due to covid in the last 24 hour period, and there were 15,810 new infections. that means, on average, there were 12,930 new cases per day in the last week. more than 221,000 people received a first dose of a vaccine, meaning over 43.8 million people have now had a single jab