More than 1,700 new coronavirus cases in UK as death toll jumps by 13

Separate figures published by the UK’s statistics agencies show there have now been 57,300 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

Meanwhile, figures released by devolved authorities found a further 17 people have died from the disease.

A further 15 deaths in hospitals were confirmed by NHS England on Thursday.

This brings England's overall hospital toll to 29,585.

The victims were aged between 50 and 95 years old and all had known underlying health conditions.

The dates of the deaths ranged from March 27 to September 2, with the majority on or before August 31.

Scotland and Northern Ireland also reported one new fatality each, bringing their death tolls to 2,496 and 563 respectively.

Welsh health officials reported no further deaths of people who had tested positive for coronavirus.

Speaking on Thursday at the Scottish Government's regular coronavirus briefing, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also confirmed health officials had recorded 101 new cases of Covid-19 in the country in the previous 24 hours.

Ms Sturgeon said the reproduction rate of coronavirus in Scotland is now “probably above one” and could be as high as 1.4.

The rate, which suggests the average number of people who are infected by a single positive case of the virus, was believed to have been below one for some months.

Ms Sturgeon said: “I said recently that the R number is of slightly less concern when overall prevalence of the virus is low, and overall prevalence of the virus is still low in Scotland right now.

“But nevertheless this is a reminder that the virus is spreading again here, just as it is elsewhere in the UK, across Europe and indeed in the wider world, so it is a reminder of the need for us to take this seriously and do all of the right things.”

She also told the briefing that 20,889 people have now tested positive for coronavirus in Scotland, up by 101 from 20,788 the day before.

Provisional figures indicate some 53 of these new cases are in Greater Glasgow and Clyde, where restrictions preventing indoor meetings where reintroduced on Tuesday.

Ms Sturgeon said data being presented to officials showed a number of small, localised clusters had caused a spike in new cases in the Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board area.

The First Minister added cases are increasing in various parts of the country, and the enforcement of additional measures in Glasgow should serve as a “wake up call” to Scots.