Covid patients monitored at home using app

This is not a moment to ease up, the health secretary warned today, as new figures show there are almost 38,000 people in hospital with coronavirus across the UK, and more patients on ventilators than at any point during the pandemic.

The latest 24-hour figures show a further 592 people have died, bringing the official UK total to 98,531. There have been more than 22,000 new cases.

Another 220,000 people received their first vaccine dose yesterday. More than 6.5 million people have now received their first jab.

With hospital wards brimming to full, the NHS is piloting a new virtual scheme that monitors patients from home.