An average of 28,300 people in private households in England had Covid-19 between July 27 and August 2, according to new estimates from the Office for National Statistics.

This was the equivalent of about 0.05 per cent of the population, or one in 1,900 individuals.

The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

The ONS said that while recent figures had suggested the percentage of individuals testing positive for Covid-19 had risen since the end of June, there is now evidence to suggest that this trend may have levelled off.

An average of 3,700 people per day in private households in England were estimated to be newly infected with Covid-19 between July 27 and August 2, according to the ONS - down slightly from 4,200 per day in the period July 20 to 26.

A further 10 people who tested positive for coronavirus have died in hospital in England, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals to 29,386, NHS England said.

Patients were aged between 54 and 94 and all had known underlying health conditions.

Another five deaths were reported with no positive Covid-19 test result.

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The Government said 46,511 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Thursday, up by 98 from the day before.

Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies show there have now been 56,600 deaths registered in the UK where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

The Government also said that in the 24-hour period up to 9am on Friday, there had been a further 871 lab-confirmed cases. Overall, a total of 309,005 cases have been confirmed.