Another 6,042 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the UK in the latest 24 hour period.

It comes a day after 6,874 were reported, which was the highest single-day figure so far in the pandemic.

Up until Saturday, cases had risen for five successive days.

However, the numbers are nowhere near a realistic comparison to the peak of April and May, when Imperial College researchers have suggested there were more than 100,000 daily new infections and there was far less testing.

The overall number of confirmed COVID-19 infections is now 429,277.

Thirty-four more people in the UK have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus, the government has said.

Also, the number of deaths announced on Friday has been revised up from 34 to 35.

The total number of UK fatalities stands at 41,971.

:: In England, there have been 30 more deaths

:: There have been three more fatalities in Wales

:: One further death has been reported in Northern Ireland

:: In Scotland, no further deaths have been reported

Meanwhile, the developers of the new NHS coronavirus tracing app have admitted more than 60,000 tests carried out in England on Friday – just under a third of the total – cannot be linked to its systems.

The admission appears to undermine the central role of the software, which is to warn people when they have come into contact with anyone who subsequently tests positive.

The long-awaited NHS coronavirus contact-tracing app launched on Thursday across England and Wales.

However, in a response to a tweet by a user who said they had been tested but could not upload the result because they had not received a code, the app’s developers said it is not linked to test results processed in a Public Health England lab or NHS hospital.

Seventeen million people – more than a quarter of the UK population – will be living under extra coronavirus restrictions when new measures on socialising come into force in parts of the country.

A ban on households mixing in each other’s homes came into effect at midnight in Wigan, Stockport, Blackpool and Leeds.

Residents in those areas are also advised not to meet people outside their household or bubble in any other settings including bars, shops or parks.

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Restrictions are already in force across large swathes of the North West, West Yorkshire, the North East and the Midlands, as well as parts of west Scotland.

And a ban on households mixing indoors was extended across Northern Ireland earlier this week.

Cardiff and Swansea will go into local lockdown from 6pm on Sunday.

People will not be able to enter or leave the areas without a reasonable excuse. They will not be able to meet indoors with anyone they do not live with, with extended households suspended.

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