4 years ago
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There have been more than 337,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus so far in the UK and more than 41,500 people have died, government figures show.
However, these figures include only people who have died within 28 days of testing positive for coronavirus and other measures suggest the number of deaths is higher.
Find out how the pandemic has affected your area and how it compares with the national average:
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The postcode search has been updated to replace data for health boards in Scotland with data for local councils. In England, data for county councils has been replaced with data for district councils. Figures for boroughs and unitary authorities remain unchanged.
Rise in new cases amid concern over hotspots
Daily confirmed cases began edging up again in July - after falling significantly from their April peak - as lockdown restrictions imposed in March were eased.
On Tuesday, the government said there had been 1,295 newly-confirmed cases. The seven-day average, at 1,339, was the highest since late June.
The official number of confirmed cases during the peak in the UK underestimates the true level of infection at the time, as widespread testing was not as available until mid-May.
The increase in testing partly explains the rise in daily cases in July - if you are testing more, you are likely to find more cases. But the number of tests being processed each day has plateaued since the beginning of August, according to government data.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which surveys a sample of households in England for current infections, estimates that 1 in 1,900 people in England had coronavirus in the week ending 20 August. The figure for the previous week was 1 in 2,200.
Where are the UK's coronavirus hotspots?
There are several local hotspots in the UK which have seen a spike in cases since the nationwide lockdown ended.
Public Health England produce a weekly watchlist of areas of concern, based on an assessment of incidence rates, and other indicators such as trends in testing, healthcare activity and deaths.
Stoke-on-Trent is the latest area to be added to the list, but restrictions already in place in parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and West Yorkshire have been eased.
In Scotland, 154 people were reported to have tested positive for the virus on Tuesday. Restrictions on visiting other households were reintroduced in Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire and East Renfrewshire.
Decline in daily deaths continues
While the number of new confirmed cases of coronavirus has been rising again recently, government-announced deaths have continued to fall since a peak in mid-April.
On Tuesday, the government reported two deaths in England. One death was reported in Wales. None were reported in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
In August, the government's death toll in England was reduced by 5,340 following a review of the way coronavirus deaths are counted.
New rules mean deaths anywhere in the UK are included in the coronavirus total only if they occurred within 28 days of a positive test. Previously in England, all deaths after a positive test were included.
England has seen the majority of UK deaths from Covid-19. Using the 28-day cut-off, there have been just under 37,000.
Overall death toll could be more than 60,000
When looking at the overall death toll from coronavirus, official figures count deaths in three different ways.
Government figures count people who tested positive for coronavirus and died within 28 days.
But the ONS publishes weekly updates using two other measures.
The first includes all deaths where coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate, even if the person had not been tested for the virus. The most recent figures suggest there had been more than 56,000 deaths by 14 August.
The ONS also looks at all UK deaths over and above the number usually expected for the time of year - known as excess deaths. The latest figure for this measure shows the death toll was just under 64,000 by 14 August.
The latest figures show deaths at normal levels, slightly above the five-year average. There were 10,580 deaths registered in the UK in the week of 14 August, up on the previous week and 265 above the five-year average.
The ONS says the increase in England and Wales may be due to recent high temperatures as deaths involving coronavirus continue to decline.
The government has argued it is too soon to make definitive international comparisons but, as the impact of the first wave becomes clear, analysis is beginning to suggest the UK has been one of the hardest hit countries.
Figures released by the ONS at the end of July showed that England had the highest levels of excess deaths in Europe between the end of February and the middle of June.
Some areas of Spain and Italy were harder hit than UK cities. But the analysis shows the epidemic in the UK was more widespread than in other countries. Scotland saw the third highest death rate in Europe - behind England and Spain. Wales was in fifth place and Northern Ireland in eighth.
What is the R number in the UK?
The "R number" is the average number of people an infected person will pass the disease on to.
If R is below one, then the number of people contracting the disease will fall; if it is above one, the number will grow.
The government's current estimate for the R number across the whole of the UK is between 0.9 and 1.1.
The estimate for England is between 0.9 and 1.1, while for Scotland it is between 0.8 and 1.2. The estimate for Wales is 0.7-1.0 and in Northern Ireland it is 1.0-1.6.
The government has said in the past that the R number is one of the most important factors in making policy decisions, but it now says these estimates are less reliable and less useful because the number of cases is relatively low.
