admissions. so there is still uncertainty about what s ahead, though the nhs is sure that the strain on the front line won t ease off any time soon. hugh pym, bbc news. the government s latest coronavirus figures for the uk show there were 178,250 new infections recorded, in the latest 24 hour period. on average, 180,076 cases were reported per day in the last week. 18,454 people were in hospital with covid as of yesterday. there were 229 deaths, that s of people who died within 28 days of a positive test, which means the average number of deaths over the past seven days was 160. the total number of people who ve died with covid now stands at 149,744. on vaccinations, 90.2% of people aged 12 and over have now received a first dose. and 82.8% have been double jabbed.